What Was Old Is New Again
by Angie72
Summary: Theresa and Ethan grew up together, but haven't seen each other in years. Will sparks fly when they meet again? Please R&R!
1. A Chance Encounter

Theresa's eyes popped open, as if on cue. When she looked over at the clock, she knew why. It was 7:00am, the same exact time she got up every morning in New York, to make sure she had time for a job before she got ready for classes.

"Oh, I'm not going to class anymore, why won't my body let me sleep? Well, I might as well make the best of it." She hopped out of bed, rummaged through her suitcase until she found her jogging clothes, slipped them and her sneakers on, and headed downstairs.

Theresa couldn't remember the last time her house was so quiet. Last night, it was full of noise until late in to the evening. And while growing up, there were always friends in the house. Mostly Ethan, Kay and Reese, and Whitney, all hanging out together with Luis, Miguel and Theresa. Now that just Theresa and Pilar lived there, the house seemed very empty.

Theresa left a note for her mother, and decided to head downtown for her jog.

As she rounded the corner to Main St., Theresa saw only one car on the road, sitting at a red light. As she got closer to the car, she saw a familiar form behind the wheel. As Theresa got to the corner, she started jogging in place, waiting for the WALK sign to come on.

"Theresa? a voice said from in the car. Theresa bent over to see who had called her name from inside the car.

"Hey, Ethan. I thought I recognized the person in the car, but I wasn't sure who it was. Where are you going so early?"

"Big case today. I wanted to get in early and make sure everything is all set. What about you, why out so early you're first day home?"

"Well, I used to get up this early at school and go for a jog, guess my body isn't used to being able to sleep in yet."

The stop light turned green.

"Hey, you better get going, before there's a traffic jam!" laughed Theresa.

"I guess your right", he laughed back.

"Good luck on your case, you can tell me all about it tonight at dinner."

"How about today at lunch instead?" he asked.

Theresa was quite surprised by his invitation, but was also intrigued by it, so she accepted.

"Okay, what time?"

"Book Café at noon?"

"Sounds great, counselor, see you there!" And with that she continued her jog down Main St.

When Theresa got home, Pilar was dressed and ready for work at the Crane Mansion.

"Theresa, your home! I must admit, I was surprised to go in to your room this morning and not see you there."

"I'm sorry Mama, I just need to convince my body that it's okay to sleep in once in a while. The strangest thing happened on my jog...."

"What Mija, are you hurt?"

"No Mama, nothing like that. I saw Ethan Bennett on his way to work, and he invited me to lunch today."

Pilar suddenly had a grin on her face. "Why is that strange?"

"Why would Ethan ask _me _out to lunch? I'm just Luis's kid sister Theresa!"

"Correction, Mija, you _were_ Luis's kid sister. Now you are a grown up beautiful woman, with her own career in fashion and ready to take on the world. Ethan sees how much you have changed, and wants to get to know you better."

"You really think so Mama?"

"I know so, I could see it in his eyes last night when you came in the room. He couldn't keep his eyes off of you all night long."

"Mama!" was the only reply Theresa could think to give. "So, you think he is interested in me, romantically?"

"I'm not sure about romantically, but I know he is interested in you. Go, have lunch. It will be two old friends catching up. See where it goes from there. But right now, I have to go to work. I'll be home early. I need to make a dish for dinner tonight. You are still going, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mama. I will be there. I'm sure I'll be home when you get done with work. Where else would I be?"

Sitting behind his desk, Ethan could seem to get his chance encounter with Theresa off of his mind. Why is she having this effect on me? Ethan questioned himself. She's just Theresa, Luis's kid sister....although deep down inside he really knew why.

"But she doesn't look like a kid anymore", he said to himself out loud. What was going on? There was only one person Ethan could talk to about this, and he knew if he didn't do something soon, he would screw up his big day in court, so he grabbed the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi Grace, it's me."

"Hi honey. I was just thinking about you, and how good it was to have you over last night. We don't get to see you all that often since you moved out."

"I know, but I'm always so busy with work."

"I know work can be busy, but don't forget, you have a family that loves you and wants to see you, too. Can you come tonight for dinner with Pilar and her family?"

Immediately his mind raced back to Theresa and the reason for his call.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it. Hey, is Dad still home, or did he leave for work yet?"

"He's just about to leave, hold on, I'll get him. Try and be here around 6, okay?"

"Okay, Grace. Thanks."

"Hey, son, what's going on so early?"

"I need to talk to you, do you have a second or do you have to go right in to work?"

"For my kids, I have all of the time in world. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I saw Theresa on my way in to work today...."

"Wow, she's up early!"

"Well, she was out for a jog, and she went right past my car at a stop light, and was waiting for the go ahead to cross, so I said hi."

"That's nice of you!"

"Yeah, well....I ended up inviting her to lunch at the Book Café.

"That's even nicer of you! If there is such a word!"

Ethan laughed at his father's use of words. "I just can't seem to get her face out of my head, Dad. Is there something wrong with me? I mean, it's just Theresa, Luis's kid sister, right?"

"She used to be, but she's matured a lot since you last saw her. She's gotten her degree in Fashion. She's starting a new job here in Harmony soon. She really knows what she wants out of life. The last time you saw her, she was just a high school girl with a crush on that guy from 'Titanic'."

"So, I'm not some kind of pervert then?"

Sam laughed. "Of course not, Ethan. Theresa is a very attractive woman, and someone you know you have a good time with. For right now, your just friends, like you have always been. And if it should lead to more than that, you shouldn't feel bad about it. It could be a wonderful relationship!"

"It's amazing how you always make me feel better about everything I question in my life.

How do you do that?"

"That's what father's are for, Ethan. Now go and win that big case, take Theresa to lunch, and just have a good time."

"Thanks Dad, I'll see you tonight at dinner."

"Bye Ethan."


	2. Coming Home

Preface:

Ethan was raised as a Bennett. Ivy told Julian the baby wasn't his not long after Ethan was born, and Julian made Ivy send Ethan to live with Sam and Grace. He is still a lawyer. Ethan grew up being good friends with the L-P's. Ethan and Theresa were friends, and he took Theresa a lot of places because he felt sorry for her, always tagging along after the big kids. By the time Ethan got out of law school, Theresa was gone to college, so they haven't really seen each other in about six years. I put Chad with Whitney, just because it's easier. That way I don't have to get in to the whole, Chad is Julian's son thing. You also won't be hearing a lot about Fox. As far as I'm concerned, in the story anyway, if he's not with Whitney, there's not much for him to do!

As Theresa drove down the road, she finally saw what she had been waiting hours to see.

"Welcome to Harmony", read the sign at the side of the road.

"I'm finally home!" Theresa said to herself out loud.

As she rounded the corner on to the road that led to her mother's house, she was bouncing out of her seat. She hadn't been home since last summer, and she was excited to see everyone again. She had finally graduated college with a BA in Fashion Design, and had found a job at a local boutique as their designer. She was so excited the night she found out that she got the job, she sat down and designed the entire fall line, all in one night!!

As Theresa pulled in to the driveway, and placed the car in park, she noticed the front door open. Pilar stood on the front porch, waiting for Theresa to emerge!

"Theresita!" Pilar called to her.

"Hola, Mama!" Theresa cried back, and ran to her for a hug.

"I'm so excited you are home, mija, I've missed you so much! And you've already gotten yourself a job in here in Harmony"!

"Yes, and I was so excited, that I designed the entire fall line in one night! When I sent it to the owner of the boutique, she loved it! She sent me an advance, and told me I didn't have to be in to the store for a whole month after I got home!"

"Oh Theresa, I'm so proud of you!! You followed your dream, and now it has come true! I just wish you could have gone to college here instead of New York City."

"Well, Mama, no need to worry, I am home now, and there is no need for me to ever go back there! Now, where are my brothers? I know I just saw you all at the graduation ceremony, but I'm excited to finally be home!"

"OH, I'M NOT SURE WHERE THEY ARE, MIJA..." Pilar practically screamed what she was saying.

"Mama, what's going on...?" Theresa said, as she opened the front door of her house.

When she looked in, she saw no one, until......

"SURPRISE!"

From behind the couches and chairs and doors came, Miguel and Kay, Luis and Sheridan, Sam and Grace Bennett, Jessica and Reese, Whitney and Chad, TC and Eve, and there was another young man she didn't recognize.

"Oh my gosh! You all scared me to death!! Mama, did you do all this?"

"Actually, it was your brother's and their wives idea!"

"Oh, you guys, thank you all so much." She ran to try and hug all four of them at the same time, but she had to settle for just two, first Sheridan and Luis, then Miguel and Kay.

"We're just so proud of you sis, and we wanted the whole town to know!" Luis said, beaming with pride as he looked at his "Little sister".

"Yeah, sis, you really made your dream come true, and we wanted you to know how much we all love and support you.", Miguel replied.

"This is so wonderful!"

Theresa danced around the room, hugging everyone as she came to them.

"Oh Whit, I'm so excited to be home! Now I can help you and Chad plan the wedding!"

"Good, 'because I am going to need your help! And your design sense. I was actually hoping, maybe, you could design my dress?"

"Really Whit, you'd let me do that for you??"

"Of course! It's not everyday a girl's best friend is an up and coming fashion designer!"

"And money is no object," TC chimed in. "My little Sugar Bear getting married is a once in a lifetime event!"

"All right!" cried Theresa. "If I'm as excited about this as I am my new job, I should have it designed tonight, no problem!"

"Theresa, we have six months! Tonight just have fun and then get some rest....you can do it tomorrow night!" Whitney laughed with her best friend.

As Theresa made her way around the room, she finally came to Sam and Grace Bennett. She kept eyeing the young man with them. She knew he looked familiar, but she just couldn't place him.

"Theresa, I can't believe how grown up you are!" cried Grace.

"Wasn't it just yesterday she was over at our house begging Luis and Ethan to take them with her wherever they were going?" asked Sam.

That's who he was!

"Ethan! I didn't recognize you, it's been so long since I've seen you!"

Theresa ran up to Ethan and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I knew you didn't recognize me when you came in, but I also knew you'd figure it out eventually!"

Sam and Grace excused themselves to go talk to Sheridan and Luis.

"Oh my gosh, how have you been?" Theresa asked Ethan. She couldn't help but notice how much Ethan had changed since she last saw him before he went off to law school.

He had even more handsome, and she had a hard time trying not to give him the once over.

"I'm great! I got a job in a law firm when I got out of school, right here in Harmony!"

Ethan couldn't take his eyes off of Theresa for one minute. God, she looked amazing! Even more beautiful now then she was when she was younger. Back then, Ethan didn't think it was possible, but now, she was glowing.

"That's wonderful! I'm glad for you! I can't wait to start my job at the boutique. I'm so glad I got a job here at home. I don't think I could have lived away for one more week!"

"I know what you mean. I liked living away during law school, but coming home was always the best for me!"

"Do you get to see Ivy much?" Theresa knew that the relationship that Ethan and his mother had was somewhat strained, but she also knew Ethan, and even though he didn't like the way she handled things regarding his birth, she knew he still loved her. Sam made sure that Ethan saw her as much as Julian would allow as he was growing up, and never let him call Grace "Mom", it was reserved for Ivy.

"Yes, I get up to the mansion at least once a week. She is always quite busy with social engagements, but we always seem to find time for one another. She actually is trying to set me up with one of her friend's daughters."

"Anyone I would know?"

"Her name is Gwen Hotchkiss."

"OH! I remember her, tall, blond hair, very hoity toity?!"

"That's her", Ethan replied as he rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Oh, sounds like you're just dying to go out with her."

"I actually already have once."

Theresa felt a twinge of jealousy race through her body. Why would I be jealous of Gwen Hotchkiss? She thought to herself.

"It didn't go well?"

"She's just way too stuck up for me. I keep trying to tell my mother that, but she keeps insisting that I take her out at least one more time. We'll see."

"Well then, that's all settled!" Sam said as he came back over to where Ethan and Theresa were sitting.

"What's up, Dad?"

"I just spoke to Pilar and the rest of her family, and we are having everyone over tomorrow night for dinner!"

"Great!" replied Theresa. "Mrs. Bennett, I woke up the other night, at about two in the morning, and I swear, all I could smell was your tomato soup cake! Promise me you'll make one for tomorrow night?"

"Theresa, I'm so glad that your home to stay in Harmony. I might make two. One for all the other guests and one for just you!"


	3. Lunch

As Theresa walked in to the Book Café, she realized she was early. So she sat at the counter and waited. She really wasn't sure what to wear for lunch, and she didn't want Ethan to see her in the same outfit that she wore to dinner later in the evening, so she just wore her best jeans, and a peasant blouse with some sandals.

"Well, if it isn't my own personal wedding planner. What's up T-Lo?"

"Hey, Chad! I'm waiting for Ethan, he's meeting me here for lunch."

"Oh really now? Isn't that somethin'?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I noticed the Bennett man starin' you down last night, but I never thought he'd move this fast. Good for him!"

"Are you saying you think he likes me, too?"

"Too? Who else has been saying it?"

"Mama said _she_ noticed him staring at me last night."

"And what's not to stare at? You're a fine lookin' girl, Theresa. If it weren't for your best friend..."

"Okay, now I _know_ you're full of it!"

As their laughter subsided, Ethan walked in to the café.

"Hey, what did I miss?"

"Oh, just Chad being a total flirt. Nothing out of the ordinary!"

"Chad, you've already got the most beautiful tennis player in the world to flirt with, do you really have to flirt with the most beautiful fashion designer, too?"

"Thank you Ethan!"

"Your welcome."

"All right, you got me. Yawl go on over to your table, I'll send Beth over in sec."

As they got to their table, Ethan hurried ahead to pull Theresa's chair out for her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to woo me Mr. Bennett. First calling me beautiful and then pulling my chair out for me!"

"I'm actually just being a gentleman." Was it that obvious?

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you asked me to lunch. Now we can catch up on all that happened in the last six years! "

"Besides graduating from law school, not much has happened."

"That's not true. You work for a law firm now, which one?"

"Okay, ready for this? Smith and Wesson."

"Oh my God! The ones who can 'blast away all of your legal fees, and blow away the opposition'?" Theresa began to giggle.

"Unfortunately yes, that's them. I was really hesitant about taking the job at first. But after I did some research, I found out they are one of the most respected legal teams in our tri-state area. And their win record is amazing. Not to mention, they were talking about taking on another partner when I joined the firm."

"Really, they want to make you partner already?"

"Well, I have to win a few more cases first. But they said the liked my style in court, and that they would be looking to add another partner soon, so that when they retired, they knew the company would be in good hands."

"Ethan, that's wonderful!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. And Dad and Grace couldn't be more proud!"

"Well, I can see why!"

Just then, Beth came over to take their order. Theresa was worried there wouldn't be a lot more to talk about after she left. But Ethan picked up on her anxiety, and started the conversation once Beth was gone.

"So, tell me about this great job you've landed here in Harmony."

"Well, you know that little boutique on Main St.?"

"Oh yeah, the really classy one? Next to the book store?"

"Yeah, but it's not so classy, actually. I hopped on the internet one night about a month or two before graduation, and started researching our area. I thought even if I couldn't get a job in Harmony, at least I could be nearby. So I found a bunch of places, and sent out a portfolio of all of the designs I have ever done in my life. That boutique was the first one that responded. The owner had to make a trip to New York, so we met for lunch, and she hired me before she came back to Harmony!"

"Wow! That's really impressive Theresa!"

"Well, she recognized my name. Apparently Sheridan goes in there quite a bit. And I think she was under the impression I was related to the Crane's somehow. But after we got to talking, and I explained Sheridan was my sister in law, I got the feeling she was really impressed by me, and not my association to anyone."

"Well, good for you Theresa! And, Pilar told me, that the day you got the job, you sat up all night designing the entire fall line they wanted?", Ethan asked with a chuckle.

"I couldn't help it!" Theresa giggled back. "I was so excited, I had all this energy, and I just sat down and started to sketch. The next thing I know the sun is coming up, but I had a whole line just waiting to be assembled! That's how I got the entire month off. The owner was so excited about the designs, she told me to take my first month back in Harmony and get to know the town and my family and friends again."

"Well, I for one, am glad she did".

"Okay guys, here's lunch!" Beth said as she came to the table with their meals.

"Oh Beth, this looks great! Thanks!"

"Thanks Beth."

After they had finished lunch, Ethan and Theresa went outside to go their separate ways.

"Theresa, thank you so much for having lunch with me. It really helped me take my mind off of the case for an hour. Now I can go back in with a clear head."

"It was my pleasure, Ethan. Thank you for asking me, and thank you for buying!"

"Well, like you said, I did ask you. So, um, before you go, I wanted to ask you, uh, after dinner tonight, would you like to..."

"Well, if it isn't Ethan Bennett!" a young blond haired woman came running up to Ethan and Theresa.

"Oh, hi Gwen." Ethan said as his face dropped from the perfect smile that was on it seconds ago.

"I've been leaving messages at your apartment for you for two days now! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me!" She put an exaggerated pout on her face.

Theresa rolled her eyes.

"Of course not, Gwen." The tone in Ethan's voice had gone from happy, to extremely annoyed, but perked up again when he introduced his lunch companion.

"Gwen, this is Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, Theresa, Gwen Hotchkiss. I was telling you about Gwen last night at your mother's house, remember?" And Ethan gave Theresa a look, so that she would remember that Gwen was not one of his favorite people.

"Ethan, were bragging about me to your little friend here? Aren't you Luis' baby sister?"

"Yes, I am. Do you know my brother?"

"Sheridan Crane...."

"Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald...." Ethan corrected her.

"Whatever ...she's my best friend."

"Gwen, do you go shopping with Sheridan quite a bit?" Ethan asked.

"Of course Ethan, all the time, why do you ask?"

"Theresa was just hired by that boutique on Main St., what's it called Theresa?"

"Envy."

"Oh really!" said Gwen. "I just came from there! Maria, the owner? She and I are great friends, just showed me some designs for the fall line, there are just fabulous! So Theresa, are you going to be the cashier?" Gwen sneered.

"No actually", Theresa replied. "Those designs you just saw, are mine. I designed the entire fall line for the boutique."

Ethan watched Gwen's mouth drop, and tried his best not to laugh out loud.

"Well, Ethan, thank you so much for lunch." Theresa was purposely acting as snotty as Gwen sounded. "And I can't wait to see you for dinner. Six o'clock you said?"

"Yes, and please, don't be late", he said, picking up on what Theresa was doing, and playing off of her. "I don't think I could bear it if you were late", he said as he picked up her hand and kissed it.

"Of course not, Ethan. Good luck in court. Tell me all about it at dinner. Nice to meet you, Gwen. I look forward to seeing you in the boutique." And with that, she got in her car, and drove off.


	4. Dinner

At 6:30 that evening, the entire Lopez-Fitzgerald and Bennett clans gathered at the Bennett's dining room table. There was much activity, and much chatter, everyone had their own little conversation going, until they started to eat. Then the compliments began to fly, on how wonderful everything was.

"Mrs. Bennett, this is all so wonderful! Thank you so much for doing all of this. And I can smell the tomato soup cake in the kitchen!"

"It smells a lot better than you one you made when you were 10, right Theresa?" Luis couldn't help but bring up Theresa's baking fiasco of years ago.

The entire room began to roar.

"Hey! That's not fair! I tried really hard to make a perfect cake!"

"Yeah, perfect." laughed Miguel. "So perfect, that you put real whole tomatoes in the cake, because Mama didn't have any tomato soup!"

Again the room filled with laughter.

"Theresa, please tell me you didn't!" cried Sheridan.

As everyone in the room was laughing, Theresa looked over at Ethan, who was sitting next to her. He was laughing and smiling, and trying hard not to make eye contact with Theresa.

"Well, the only reason I did it is because Ethan told me it would work!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you were really going to try it!"

"Ethan", said Grace, "Theresa would have done anything for you back then. She used to follow you around like a little lost puppy!"

Both Theresa and Ethan began to blush.

"That's true Grace," Sam replied. "Do you remember the time that I took Ethan, Noah, Luis and Miguel on a camping trip, and Theresa was so upset to see us go, that she ran all the way down the street after our station wagon?"

"I was running because I didn't wan to see my brother's go." Theresa said firmly.

"Mija, you were running after Ethan," Pilar said. "I heard you screaming at Sam as the car went down the road. You said, 'Chief Bennett, can't you just leave Ethan here? My brothers can go, but can't Ethan stay and play with me?'"

"All right, you guys are full of it!" Theresa said, with sly grin on her face, because she knew it was true.

"Um, Theresa?" said Kay. "I hate to tell you this, but I was there, and that's exactly what you said!"

"Yeah, you would know, Kay! Because you were screaming the same thing about Miguel! 'Daddy, let Miguel stay! Please? And make sure you don't come back with Ethan or Noah so I can have my own room!'"

Again, the room erupted in laughter. As the laughter died down, Grace got up and started to clear the table. Ethan started to help her, and Theresa followed not far behind.

"See, some things never change!" Sam said.

Theresa turned around and stuck her tongue out at the entire table.

In the kitchen, after all the dished were brought in, Ethan offered to start filling the dishwasher, and Theresa offered to help him. After Grace went back in to the dinning room, they started their job.

"I can't believe everybody remembered the tomato soup cake fiasco!" Theresa said, taking a plate from Ethan and setting it in the dishwasher.

"I can't believe that you remembered I put you up to it!"

"Of course I remembered. But what I can't remember is why you wanted me to do it, and not your mother?"

Ethan turned crimson. Should he tell Theresa the real reason he asked her to make the cake? That at 16 years old, he had developed feelings for his best friend's kid sister, and that they haven't gone away yet? That seeing her again yesterday, grown and mature, and ready to start a new chapter of her life, made his feelings for her grown even stronger?? He had never admitted his feeling for Theresa to anyone, not even his father or Grace.

"Well, I had just come home from my mother's house, and I missed Grace's cooking, so I asked her to make a cake, but she was busy with Dad upstairs painting Kay and Jessica's bedroom."

"Oh! I remember when they got their bedroom painted! It was the most beautiful color of purple! I begged Mama to let me paint my room that color, but she said no. She said there was no need to paint my walls again, when all I was going to do was hang posters up on them." Suddenly Theresa got quiet. If she was 10 when she made the cake,...but she didn't start hanging posters on her wall until she was about 13, then that couldn't have been when Kay's bedroom got re-painted.

From Theresa's silence, Ethan knew that she was doing the math in her head, and soon she would realize that his story was just a cover up.

"Hey Ethan...." Theresa started.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies tonight?" Ethan said quickly, before Theresa got a chance to finish her sentence.

Theresa was surprised by Ethan's invitation. First lunch, now the movies, she thought to herself.

"What's playing?"

"Well, I don't know if you want to see it or not, but "Spiderman 2" is playing. I have been dying to see it!"

"Oh my God, me too! I loved the first one, Toby McGuire is hot!"

Ethan laughed to himself. "Sorry it's all about Kirsten Dunst for me."

"Then I guess it's a date!" Is it really, she thought? "What time does it start?"

"9:20, and its 7:30 now, so we've got some time. I was trying to ask you today after lunch, but Gwen showed up."

"Ahh yes, the lovely Ms. Hotchkiss. I can see now why you're in no hurry to go out with her again. Although I'm sure she really is a nice person."

"Well, she's not bad. But she's very spoiled. My mother thinks I should find a wife from her social class, that way Julian and Alistair would accept me more."

"You mean they still haven't accepted you?"

"More like tolerate me."

"No offense, Ethan. But I can't see you spending your life with a woman just so that Ivy's husband and father in law will be nice to you. I always imagined that my husband and I would both love each other's family, just like we love our own."

"That reminds of that case I had today."

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you how your trial went today? Did you win?"

"Yes actually, I did. But it wasn't a great victory for me, personally. I hate representing divorce cases. But the couple's main reason for divorce, was the way their spouses families treated them."

"Yikes! Tell me that wasn't the only reason!"

"No, I think they actually just weren't happy together anymore. It's just sad to see a marriage end. I know that when I get married, it will be forever." As Ethan made his last statement, he looked deep in to Theresa's eyes.

"I feel the same way", Theresa said, getting lost in Ethan's deep blue eyes. When she realized she was staring, she snapped out of it. "But right now, what I'm really feeling, is a piece of Mrs. Bennett's tomato soup cake. Let's make some coffee and go have some!"

Theresa moved quickly, before Ethan had the chance to realize that she was getting caught up in Ethan's eyes.

"Great idea!", Ethan smiled, knowing full well what the dreamy look on Theresa's face meant.


	5. In The Car

After the cake and coffee were gone, the families gathered around the dining room table once again, this time, to play a hand or two of cards. "Pass the Ace" was a game that they had all been playing together for years, and it seemed right to sit down and play again this evening. Ethan ended up winning the pot.

"Hey, this is great!" Theresa cried, "Now you can pay for the movies!"

"Movies?" Miguel said. "Are you guys going to the movies, without telling all of us?"

"Well, I did ask Theresa if she wanted to go. Why, did you guys want to go, too?"

"Well, yeah, big brother!" Kay said.

"I wanna' go too!", Sheridan pouted. "Luis never takes me to the movies anymore. Unless it's some dumb cop movie!"

"Hey, watch it!" Luis laughed. "Yeah, that sounds great, let's all go! What about you, Mama, and Sam and Grace? And where did Jessica and Reese go?"

"Oh, they took off after dinner, they were going for a walk in the park."

"No thank you mijo, I am an old woman who has to work in the morning. I'll sit this one out."

"Whaddya say Grace, would you like to go?", Sam asked his wife.

"Well, if the everyone else is going, that means we'll have the house to ourselves." Sam's mouth dropped.

"We'll stay here and turn in early", he said, with a big smile on his face.

"Oh, that's way gross", Kay said. "Let's go now, before I throw up!"

So off they all went, Luis and Sheridan, Kay and Miguel, Theresa and Ethan. As they walked out of the house, Ethan couldn't help but be a little disappointed. He was looking forward to spending the rest of the evening alone with Theresa.

"Okay, who's riding with who?" Luis asked as they made their way to the cars.

"Well, we rode over to the Bennett's with you guys, so we had better ride with you, so you can give us a ride home after.", Miguel said to Luis and Sheridan.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Then I guess Theresa and I can ride together, I can drop her off here after the movie so she can get her car."

"Actually Ethan, Mama has to drive my car home, so I can just ride with you, and if you don't' mind, you can just drop me off at home after the movie!"

"Deal!"

"Okay, let's go! The movie starts in 30 minutes!"

Suddenly Ethan's night picked up. At least he'd have time alone with her in the car.

As Sheridan and Luis, and Kay and Miguel began the drive to the theatre, Miguel was the first one to say out loud what everyone else was thinking.

"So, Theresa and Ethan, huh?"

"Yah, after all of these years, who'd of thought they'd end up together!" Kay replied.

"Well, they're not really "together", Luis said.

"Oh Luis, can you not see what's going on between them? The chemistry is amazing! Were they always like this?" Sheridan asked.

"Actually, they were." Kay replied. "Ethan likes to tell the stories of how Theresa followed him around, but I have a feeling that he encouraged her a little bit. He was always really sweet to her, and would invite her along even before she would ask!"

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago. They've both changed a lot since then." Luis pointed out.

"Luis, does it bother you that Ethan is interested in Theresa?" Sheridan asked.

"No! Why would it? It's just that, you know, she just got back in to town yesterday. I just want her to get used the place, find out what other guys are out there, before she starts a life with one man."

"What Luis is trying really hard to say, is that he doesn't want his little sister to run off and get married when he just got her back." Miguel interpreted.

"Oh, Luis. I doubt they'll run off and get married. They may have known each other for years, but if I know my brother, he'll take his time with Theresa. He's got to get to know Theresa for who she is now, not who she was 10 years ago."

"Yeah, I guess your right, Kay. I'm probably worrying for nothing."

"...you said you liked my mud pies the best!"

"I did like yours the best! Until you stared putting worms in them! Ethan, here's a little clue for you. Girls don't' like worms. Remember that the next time you're trying to impress some hot chick!" Theresa giggled to herself.

"Well, pardon me. And I will remember that, thank you very much!"

Theresa and Ethan were both laughing.

"I wonder what the conversation is in Luis car right now?" Theresa wondered out loud.

"They're probably talking about us."

Theresa swallowed hard. "Why would they be talking about us?"

"Well, we were talking about them a few minutes ago. It's just what people do. If you're in a big group and then the group separates for a while, you talk about the other people."

"Did you minor in psych or something?"

"No, I just took a few classes. It actually helps me in my job. It helps to be able to psych out the other lawyer and their clients, especially if their going to testify."

"You know Ethan, you've done nothing but amaze in the past 24 hours."

"Why do you say that?" laughed Ethan.

"Well, you're work ethic is amazing. I don't know many other people who actually go to work early on a Friday. You invite me to lunch, after I haven't seen you in six years..."

"I told you I wanted to tell you about my case."

"Which we didn't do! We ended up talking about ourselves instead."

"Is that so bad?"

"You invite me to the movies, and then, there's the whole staring...thing...." Theresa regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

"What staring thing?"

Okay, time to fess up, you've been caught.

"Well, Mama said this morning that she caught you staring at me last night when I got home, and then Chad said the same thing in the Book Café."

Ethan began to squirm in his seat. I guess I am really that obvious, he thought to himself.

"Something you'd like to tell me, counselor?"

"Awe, come on, Theresa. Why wouldn't I stare at you? I haven't seen you in six years! I couldn't believe how different you looked when you walked in. We've been friends our whole lives. I'm just trying to get to know you. You, Theresa the 22 year old, not the 12 year old little girl you used to be. Okay?" Was that good enough to pacify her, or did he have to BS a little more?

"Okay, Ethan. I believe you, I think. It's hard to tell when you're lying. You've got that whole lawyer thing going on. You could just be pulling my leg, and I'd never know the difference."

"Okay, now your just teasing with me. We're here, so let's go in before all of the good seats are taken."


	6. A Movie and a Confession

As the group stood in line, Theresa noticed Whitney and Chad ahead of them just about to go in to the theatre.

"Hey guys!" Theresa yelled.

Whitney turned around and saw everyone waiting to go in.

"Hey! Everybody had the same idea, huh?"

"It's the most popular thing to do in Harmony on a Friday night!" Sheridan replied.

"Well, not the most popular, people do come to my club, too, you know!" Chad said.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you there?" Ethan asked him.

"Well, I had to take a few hours off to show my girl a good time." He squeezed Whitney close to him.

"Actually, we're going over after the movie, why don't you guys go to? That way, I won't be sitting all alone all night!"

"Oh, that sounds like so much fun! Can we go, Luis?" asked Sheridan.

"Yeah, that sounds good. We haven't been out in a while. Whaddya say Miguel, you and wife ready for a night on the town?"

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun! By the time we get home from work, we're usually too tired to go out, but tonight, everybody's here, it'll be a blast!" Kay was jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

"Well, looks like Kay's already answered for us!"

"Theresa, you up for it? I know you just got back in to town yesterday." Chad was excited about the prospect of all of his friends seeing his club, he'd worked really hard to make a place for everyone to come and have a good time.

"Well, if all my family and my best friends are going, how can I say no? Is it okay with you Ethan? After all, you are my ride for the evening."

"I actually haven't been to the club in a while, so I'm game!"

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I'll actually have someone to talk to tonight!" Whitney squealed.

"But if we don't' get in to that movie theatre, these tickets we just bought will be useless, so let's go in!" said Miguel.

Two hours later, the crew was off to Chad's night club, called "The Cove". As soon as they walked in, Chad found them a table, and then went off to make sure everything was running smoothly.

"This DJ is great, Whit! Where did Chad find him?"

"You actually know this guy, Theresa, we went to school with him! Remember Todd, he was a couple years older than us, kind of tall, blond hair, he was always in the music room, playing around?"

"Oh my god! I do remember him!! He actually asked me out once. This is him?"

"Yeah, well. He applied for the job, and Chad really liked him, and he had a good sense of music, but once Chad started training him, he really took off. Now Chad only uses him on weekends, when the crowd is really hoppin'!"

"Looks like we picked the perfect night to come!" Ethan said.

The waitress then came over and took every one's order. Luis, Miguel and Ethan all ordered beers, Sheridan and Whitney ordered a glass of wine, Kay ordered a coke, and Theresa ordered a Sex on the Beach. When Luis heard what Theresa was saying, he freaked out.

"Theresa!" he said. "Is that any way to talk?"

"Luis, it's the name of drink, for god's sake!"

"What kind of a name is that? This must be something you picked up living in New York."

"Actually, it is. Some girlfriends of mine used to go out every once in a while, and they got me to try one, and I like it. So now, that's what I order."

"Good to know you were working to hard in the city," Luis sneered.

"I was working hard, Luis. But every once in a while, I needed a break. It's not like I was a fall down drunk or anything."

The waitress returned, and handed everyone their drinks. When they all went to pay, the waitress told them they were compliments of the owner.

"Oh, Chad's so sweet!" said Kay. "He didn't have to do that."

"You have no idea how much this means to Chad, you guys all being here. He really wants to make a name for himself."

"Well, he's doing a pretty good job if you ask me!" Ethan said proudly. Ethan was one of the few people to befriend Chad when he first came to Harmony, and was glad he was doing so well at something he really loved.

Just then, a song came on that Whitney and Theresa used to dance to in high school. They both squealed out loud when they heard it.

"Oh my god, Whit, do you remember this song?"

"Of course I do, let's go!", as she raced for the dance floor.

"Anybody want to join us, Sheridan, Kay?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Sheridan jumped out of her chair.

"I'm with Whitney, let's go!", and Kay was not far behind them.

Soon they were all on the dance floor, shaking it for all of Harmony to see.

Ethan couldn't take his eyes off of Theresa. She was so beautiful, vibrant and alive. So different from the few girls he had dated in college. He felt his heart race every time she turned his way. Once in a while she'd look his way and smile and wave while she was dancing.

After the song was done, a slow song came on. Upon hearing it, Luis and Miguel immediately groaned.

"What's wrong with this song?" Ethan asked.

"When Theresa was in high school, she loved this song, so much, she always ran around the house singing it. We begged Mama to make her stop, but she never did, so we always heard it, all day, everyday."

"Well, how about I put you boys out of your misery before Theresa comes back and ask her to dance?" With that, Ethan got off of his chair and began to head for the dance floor.

As he got to the floor, he noticed Theresa talking to the DJ. Whitney, Sheridan and Kay passed him on the way back to their seats.

"Hey, Whit. Is Theresa requesting a song?"

"No, she just wanted to go say hi to Todd.", and Whitney walked away.

Suddenly, a twinge of jealousy overcame Ethan. He remembered Theresa saying that this Todd guy had asked her out once in high school.

Ethan approached Theresa and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Ethan, this is Todd, the guy Whitney was telling us about at the table. Todd, this is Ethan Bennett, the guy I was just telling you about."

"Nice to meet you", Ethan said and shook his hand.

"Same here."

"Theresa, would you like to dance?" Ethan asked her.

"Oh, Ethan I'd love to, I really like this song! Excuse me Todd. I 'll catch up to you later."

"No prob, Theresa."

As they hit the dance floor, Ethan was a little nervous. He'd never held Theresa so close before. But once he did, he relaxed, and just took in the smell of her. She smelled of coconut shampoo, and a light, flowery perfume.

As they began to sway across the floor, Theresa had never felt more safe and comfortable in a man's arms. And they seemed to fit together perfectly. The smell of Ethan's cologne was almost intoxicating.

"Theresa, may I ask what kind of perfume your wearing?"

"It's called 'Pleasures', it's by..."

"Estee Lauder", Ethan finished her sentence.

"How did you know that?"

"It's what Grace wears. I thought it smelled familiar. Although it smells different on you."

"All perfumes smell different on different women. Every woman gives off different pheromones than the other."

"You're pretty smart, where'd you learn that?"

"Remember the summer I spent working at the mall in Castleton? The store I worked at had a perfume counter, and I used to go over there on my breaks and try on all the different scents. One of the sales ladies told me that."

"I thought maybe you learned it in school."

"Well, they did try to teach me that, but I already knew!"

A silence fell between them.

"Theresa, there's something I want to tell you..."

"Ethan? The song is over."

Ethan immediately pulled away from Theresa and looked around embarrassed. "Oh, sorry", he said.

"Its okay, Ethan. Now, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh, it was nothing. Just that I like your perfume."

"Thank you, Ethan." Theresa got the sense that Ethan was trying to tell her something else, but she didn't want to pry.

Two hours, many drinks, and lots of dancing later, the gang called it a night, and decided to head home.

"Whit, are you staying with Chad, or did you need a ride?" Ethan asked her.

"No, I'm okay, but thanks. I'm used to hanging out here with Chad until the bar closes. You guys go home and rest. We've been tearin' it up all night!"

They all laughed, and Whit and Theresa hugged goodbye, and made plans to shop the next day, after Whitney was done with tennis practice.

Luis, Miguel, Sheridan and Kay all said goodnight to Ethan and Theresa, and got in the car to head home. Ethan and Theresa started for her house, too.

"I had so much fun tonight, Ethan! Thanks so much for asking me to go to the movies!"

"I'm glad you had fun. It was nice to see you like that."

"Like what?"

"Well, like... you. I haven't been around you in so long, almost forgot how much fun you are, how much fun we have together."

"Oh, that's the nicest compliment I've ever gotten. Thank you."

"Your welcome. So, tomorrow's Saturday, your not going for your jog, are you?"

"I don't think I will as early as I did today. It's almost 2 in the morning!"

They both laughed together as they pulled in to Pilar's driveway.

"Well, thank you again, Ethan." As she began to open the car door...

"Theresa, wait, please. There's something I've been trying to tell you all night."

"I got that feeling, but I didn't want to pry. Are you okay?"

"More than I have been in a long time. Theresa, seeing you again has brought up some feelings I've had for a long time, and thought I would never feel again."

"What are you saying, Ethan?"

"I'm saying that ever since we were kids, I've always felt a connection to you. And the older we got, the stronger it did. That connection turned out to be an attraction, and now...well, I was wondering...oh God, how do I ask this? Can we start seeing each other Theresa? You know, start dating?"

Theresa was somewhat dumbfounded by Ethan's request. Yet, her heart was screaming at her to say yes.

"Ethan, I think I've always felt the same as you. That's why I always used to follow you around when we were young. And spending time with you has brought up feelings for me too, so I guess the feelings are mutual!"

"So the answer is yes?"  
  
"Yes, Ethan!" Ethan breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Then I hope the answer to my next question is yes, too. Can I please kiss you?"

Theresa smiled and shook her head.

Ethan leaned in, and ever so gently, pressed his lips against Theresa's. He didn't make the kiss too long, just long enough to satisfy the urge that he had been fighting all night.

As they pulled away from each other, Ethan noticed it took Theresa a minute to open her eyes.

"Ethan, I've never been kissed like that before."

"Well, thank you very much!" he said proudly.

Theresa giggled. "Well, goodnight, Ethan. I look forward to hearing from you."

"Goodnight Theresa, sweet dreams."


	7. The First Date

The next morning, Theresa didn't wake up until almost 10 o'clock. Being out almost all night partying, definitely made her body forget her morning jog.

When she got up and went downstairs, she noticed a note from her mother on the kitchen table.

'Theresa – I didn't have the heart to wake you before I went to work. I will be home early. I hope you had a good time last night! – Love, Mama'

"More than you'll ever know", she said to the note, and went to the cupboards to get the ingredients to make pancakes. After all the mixing and pouring and frying, the pancakes were ready. Just as she was about to take her first bite, the phone rang. Theresa raced from the kitchen in to the living room to answer it before the machine went off.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly.

"Theresa? It's Ethan. Are you okay? You sound out of breath."

"I ran in from the kitchen, I was just about to eat my breakfast."

"You woke up late, too, huh?"

"I never knew dancing could have such an exhausting effect on a person!"

"Well, I was wondering what you had in mind to do today. I wondered if you'd like to get together."

"Oh, Ethan, that's so sweet. But I made plans with Whitney to meet up and talk about the wedding today after she was done with tennis practice. I'm meeting her at the Book Café at noon for lunch."

"Oh, no problem. We can get together another time"

"No, I really want to see you today; I'd like to finish our conversation from last night in the car on the way home." She hoped he picked up on her tone of voice.

"Yeah, me too", was all that Ethan could manage to say, after the way Theresa uttered her last few words.

"How about this? I'm dying to see your apartment, how about I bring over some food and I'll cook you and I dinner."

"That sounds wonderful. I'll clean up my place...well, I probably shouldn't tell you it's dirty."

"Ethan, you're a bachelor. If it were clean, I'd be surprised."

"Let me get something, to go with dinner. What can I get?"

"Uh, let's see....a bottle of wine. White Zinfandel okay? That's my favorite."

"Perfect. What time should I expect you?"

"How about 5?"

"Five o'clock it is. Maybe I can even find a movie for us to watch."

"If were talking movies, there had better be popcorn, too!"

"Yes ma'am! I'll see you at 5!"

"I'm looking forward to it. Bye Ethan."

"Bye Theresa."

As she hung up, Theresa felt her heart begin to flutter. Just the mere thought of being with Ethan tonight put her in a tizzy. 'What will it be like when I'm actually there?' she thought to herself.

As Ethan hung up the phone, he started looking around his apartment. 'Oh my god', he thought out loud. 'I'm going to need until 5 to get this place cleaned up. Ordinarily, cleaning his apartment is not what he would call fun for a Saturday. But for Theresa, he would do anything, just to be near her.


	8. I'm Advertising You

After finishing breakfast and getting ready for her day, Theresa met Whitney at the Book Café. After talking for an hour about the wedding, they were ready to talk about something else, and the opportunity came when Whitney told Theresa who Chad's best man was.

"Ethan? Really??" Theresa questioned.

"Yeah, Ethan was about the only person would treated Chad decently when he got to Harmony. They've been best friends ever since."

"So, I'll be walking down the isle with Ethan."

"Yeah, you will. And from the look on your face, you won't mind. What's going on with you two?

"What makes you say that?"

"The chemistry last night between you two was amazing. I've never seen you like that with a guy before!"

"I know, Whit. It's amazing what Ethan does to me. He always has. I've had a crush on him for so long, and last night, he admitted he had one on me, too!"

"When?"

"In the car, on the way home from the club, he said he'd always felt a connection to me, and as he got older, it became an attraction. Then he said seeing me again stirred up his feelings for me, and he wants us to start dating!"

"Oh Theresa! That's great! You two are so great together, and you've known each other your whole lives!"

"I know, but that's what scares me, too."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid that knowing everything about one another will make us move faster than we are ready too."

"Theresa, you're worrying too much. Just spend time with him, enjoy it. Things will just happen naturally."

"Like they did for you and Chad? Assuming, that is, that you guys have....you know."

"Well, yeah, we do live together!"

"You'll have to tell me all about that later. And you will...but right now, I have to go to the grocery store. I'm making Ethan dinner at his place!"

"Oh! Sounds like things are going to happen naturally tonight!"

"Hardly! Okay Whit, see you later!"

As Theresa left the Book Café, she decided to head down to the boutique, to make sure all was going well with her designs.

When she walked in, Maria saw her, and immediately ran over to hug her.

"Theresa, I'm so glad you're here! I was just about to call you! I wanted you to see what we got in today. Come in to the back room!"

In the back room, Theresa saw a rolling rack with all of her designs on them, the actual designs, not just on paper, but the actual outfits. Her eyes lit up.

"Oh Maria, these are fabulous! Exactly what I had in mind!" she cried out, looking through all of the different outfits. "When did they come in?"

"Just about an hour ago! I'm so pleased Theresa. These outfits are going to put our little boutique on the map. So, I hope you don't mind, but I've started advertising you."

"Advertising me?"

"Yes, our own in-store designer. A personal designer to our clients. If our clients can't find what they're looking for in the store, then you can design them the perfect outfit!"

"That sound's exciting!"

"So that also means..." Maria walked further back in to the room, and opened up a door for Theresa.

She walked in, and Theresa saw a beautifully decorated office. When she saw her designs framed all over the walls...

"My office?"

"Of course! You're the main attraction now, you definitely get your own office."

"Thank you, Maria! I'm so excited! I almost want the month to be over so I can start work!"

"Now Theresa. Enjoy the town again. You haven't lived in Harmony in so long. There have been quite a few changes. Have some fun, then I'll work your fingers to the bone!" she laughed.

Theresa laughed along with her. "Well, actually. I just started dating this guy...so the time off will be put to good use."

"Really? Anybody I know??"

"Ethan Bennett."

"Of course! I know Ethan! His mother comes in all the time. She's always raving about her lawyer son."

"That's Ethan."

"How did you two meet?"  
  
"Oh, we've known each other our whole lives. And both had secret crushes on one another. We went out together last night, and he asked me if we could start dating! I'm so excited, and happy!"

"My husband and I are childhood sweethearts. We've been married for over 30 years."

Theresa smiled in the comfort of knowing she was doing the right thing by giving her relationship with Ethan a chance.

Just then, one of the girls came in to the office.

"Maria, Gwen Hotchkiss is here to see you."

"Okay, I'll be right out." As the girl left, Maria rolled her eyes.

"What? Is that girl bugging you or something?"

"No, Gwen Hotchkiss is...she' always in here asking for"...suddenly, a thought hit her...."hold on. Gwen Hotchkiss, Ethan Bennett. She talks about him all the time. Her mom and his mom are working on setting them up together."

"Yeah, we ran in to her the other day when we were at lunch. Ethan doesn't think too much of her though, so I'm not too worried about it."

"Good for you, honey. She's just another rich girl. But the rich girls help pay the bills, so I had better get out there."

"I gotta go, too. I'm making dinner for Ethan at his place, and I have to go to the grocery store."

"Good, we can face her together." And Maria linked arms with Theresa and walked to the front of the store.

"Well, don't you two look cozy!" Gwen said.

"Gwen! Have you met my new designer, Theresa?"

"Yes, actually, I have. She's a friend of a friend."

"How are you today Gwen?"

"I'm fine. But our mutual friend, Ethan is on my list! I haven't heard from him since the day I saw the two of you at the Book Café!" Gwen said teasingly.

"Oh, well I can tell you from first hand knowledge that he's been busy with a case."

"Really? And how do you know that?"

"He told me at dinner last night."

"Oh, yes. I heard it was a Bennett-Lopez Fitzgerald family dinner."

"Yes, it was. Well, until Ethan and I went to the movies after." Theresa was purposely baiting Gwen.

"Movies?"

"And then to Chad's club for drinks and dancing."

"Drinks, _and_ dancing?" Gwen was starting to get jealous, and annoyed.

"We had a wonderful time! But I'll definitely tell him your try to get in touch with him, when I see him tonight for dinner."

"Dinner again tonight? Aren't you spending a lot of time together?"

"Just two old friends, catching up", she said, winking and smiling at Maria.

Maria almost fell on the floor laughing, watching Gwen's reaction to Theresa's comments.

"Well, I really should get going. Nice to see you again, Gwen. Maria, call me if you need anything. Okay?"

"Will do sweetie, have fun!"

And with that, Theresa breezed out of the store.


	9. Cleaning Makes You Forget

Ethan Bennett had never done so much cleaning in his life. He started in the living room. First he had to pick up all of the papers and magazines he had lying around. Then he dusted and vacuumed the entire room. Next, he went to the kitchen. Who'd have known all of that take out food could dirty so many dishes? He put all of those in the dishwasher, and ran it through, cleaned off all of the counters, swept and mopped the floors. Onto the bathroom. That was totally disgusting. He didn't realize what a bachelor he was until he went to clean it. Between the sink, the toilet and the tub, he was ready to practically puke when he was done. Once he had all of those done, he debated on whether or not it was necessary to clean the bedroom. Might as well, he thought. Who knows when it will get done again? He changed the sheets, picked up all of the clothes off the floor and put everything in the wash machine. Made the bed up, and even vacuumed the floor in there. When he was done, not only did he have just enough time to get himself ready before Theresa got there, he also had a new appreciation for Grace, and all of the housework she did as he was growing up. He also decided to tell his mother, that her servants needed a raise.

Promptly at 5, Theresa rang the bell to his apartment. Although he had been nervous, as soon as Ethan heard the door, all of nervous melted away. This is Theresa he said to himself. We're going to have a good time.

"Hi! You look great!" he said as he opened the door.

"Oh, you look pretty good yourself. But I don't think you'll like how I look after I put this apron on."

"Wow! Is the meal that involved that you need an apron?"

"Lasagna!" she cried, as she pulled the noodles out of the bag to show him.

"The kitchen is this way, Emeril!"

Theresa put her bag down on the counter, and proceeded to empty its contents.

"Now, it's not going to be the best I've ever made. I didn't have time to make my own sauce, so you'll have to forgive me."

"On one condition," he said, moving closer to her.

"What's that?", as she turned to face him.

"A kiss hello?"

She smiled up at him, and he slowly bent over to place a gentle kiss on her lips.

As they pulled away, he smiled even bigger then she had before. "Hi."

"Hi.", she said back, and began to giggle. "Ethan, you make me feel all kinds of silly!"

"Is that good?"

"It's wonderful! But if I don't start dinner, soon, we'll starve to death!"

"Can I help?"

"Nope, I said I was making you dinner. You can either sit in the other room and relax, or sit at the table and keep me company while I assemble my masterpiece!"

"You know what? For all of the times Grace has made lasagna, I've never watched her do it. So if you don't' mind, I'd like to stay and observe."

"Be my guest", she said, as she opened a jar of sauce.

15 minutes later, the oven was preheated, and the lasagna went in.

"Why the aluminum foil over the top again?"

"That way, you don't have to cook the noodles before hand. If you use plenty of sauce, and put the foil on real tight, they will cook themselves."

"Got it. Okay, so we have an hour right?"

"Well, 45 minutes, after that I have to take the foil off and let the cheese brown."

"45 minutes, it is. How about a glass of ...oh my god!"

"You forgot the wine, huh?"

"I was so busy cleaning."

"Then I'm also guessing there's no movie or popcorn, either?"

"Oh Theresa, I'm so sorry."

"Well, like I said, we have 45 minutes. We can run and get those things real quick before I have to take it out."

"Is it okay to leave the oven on like that, when we're not here?"

"Yeah, we just have to make sure we're back in time."

"Okay!" he said, grabbing his keys, "let's hurry!"


	10. She Confesses, Too

Theresa and Ethan timed it perfectly, and walked in the door just as the oven went off.

So, an hour and a half later, they had stuffed themselves on lasagna and bread and wine, while they laughed and talked about their childhood, about their college days, and about what they thought the future held for them.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! I went down to Envy today, after I got off the phone with you? I saw Maria, and you'll never guess what she's doing?"  
  
"What is she doing?"

"She's advertising me!"

"Excuse me?"

Theresa laughed. "That's what I said too, until she explained it. She's going to start advertising personal designing. That's me, a personal designer!"

"Theresa, that's wonderful!"

"I'm so excited! She also had just gotten my fall line in. I mean, the actual clothing! It was a dream come true to finally see my designs become a reality."

Ethan had to laugh. "I absolutely love seeing you this excited. I don't think I've seen you this way since....since Brad Pitt broke up with Gwyneth Paltrow!"

Theresa began to laugh hysterically. "Hey, I thought for sure he was on his way to Harmony to find me!"

They both laughed together, until Theresa remembered what else, or who else she remembered that day.

"I also saw Gwen today."

"Oh, no. And I'm sure she gave you a sob story about how's she's been trying to contact me and I keep ignoring her."

"You know Ms. Hotchkiss better than I thought!"

"Well, I don't think I'll be seeing Gwen anytime soon. It's not necessary."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not interested in her. Not that I really ever was, but now that you and I are together, I don't need to entertain the idea of any other woman." As he said this, Ethan reached across the table and took Theresa's hand.

"Really?" Theresa asked quietly.

"Really.", he said, standing up, pulling Theresa up next to him in to his arms. Then he kissed her. But this kiss was unlike the kisses they had shared before. It was soft and gentle at first, but as the kiss continued, it became deeper, and more feverish.

As they finally pulled away from each other, there was only one word Theresa could utter.

"Wow"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Ethan, do you really mean what you said, about no other women?"

"Yes, I really did. I guess that's why I never bothered to date in college or law school."

"You didn't date anyone, at all?"

Ethan laughed. "Well, I wasn't a hermit, but I never really dated anyone seriously. Deep down in my heart, I always knew we would end up together."

"You knew, but I, on the other hand, secretly prayed."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. Think about it, Ethan. Growing up, I had two best friends. Whitney, and you. You were always so nice to me, always bringing me along whenever you and Luis went somewhere, like the corner store or the movies. And whenever we played games, you always chose me first for your team. Me! Little Theresa! You were my knight in shining armor back then. I used to have dreams that you and I would get married!"

"Oh really now?" Ethan said. His interest was suddenly perked.

"Oh my god! If you knew how many times I married you in the front yard? You'd think I was nuts!"

"Whoa, hold on! What do you mean, married me in the front yard?"

Theresa laughed out loud. The only other people who knew about this were Whitney and Mama.

"Yeah! You know that little bush in our front yard, that grows those little white flowers?"

"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, I used to pretend they were little wedding bouquets. And I'd get a pillowcase off of my bed, and put it on like veil. And Whit and I would pretend you were standing next to me, and she'd marry us. We must have done this once a week!"

"Where was I when this was going on?" Ethan flopped down on the couch. He was actually disappointed that he had missed this when he was young.

Theresa sat down next to him. "Well, you didn't really think I would do all of this when you were around, did you? I'd wait until you had to go with Grace for an errand, or visit your Dad at the station. One time, Mama caught us. I didn't want to tell who I was pretending to get married to. So I told her George Clooney instead."

"Theresa, I can't believe you're telling me all of this. Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Well at the time I couldn't say anything. Back then I just thought you were being nice to me because you felt sorry for me. You know, the baby sister tagging along. And as we got older, I was afraid you'd think I was a silly little school girl. By the time I was really ready to tell you, you were going to college."

Ethan sat quiet for a moment, with a huge smile on his face. "I can't believe this, Theresa. This whole time, our whole lives! We've been both had feelings for the other, but never had the chance to show it."

"And now, here we are, grown up, and the feelings are still there. It's amazing," Theresa said.

"Its fate", Ethan replied, and leaned over to kiss her again. "And you know what?" he said when the kiss was over. "All of those stories make the movie we got for tonight perfect!"

"Oh my gosh! Your right, "13 Going on 30" is perfect! Can we watch it now? Please!"

"Of course we can! But, do you need popcorn first?"

"Well, any other time I'd say yes, but I'm really pretty full. Let's just watch the movie and see what happens."

"Okay", Ethan said putting the movie in the VCR, "here we go!"

The movie was halfway through. It was a really good movie, but Ethan and Theresa couldn't keep their eyes, or their hands off of each other. At first it was innocent, just hand holding and arm stroking. But the electricity their bodies were getting from one another, from the innocent touching, was eventually coursing through their bodies. When they both looked at each other at the same time, it ignited a spark, and they were immediately drawn to each other. They quickly moved towards each other, and their lips crashed together, kissing like they were before, the passionate kissing, with absolutely no need to stop. Ethan loved the feeling of Theresa's soft lips against his, and was desperate to feel her tongue mingle with his own. He began to tease her lips with it, and she immediately parted her lips so that their tongues could join. As their kisses became more feverish, Ethan instinctively moved his hands up swiftly to the back of Theresa's head, and began to lightly grab her hair, massaging her scalp as the kisses got more intense. It drove Theresa absolutely crazy. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the couple "came up for air."

"Wow", Theresa managed to push out of her mouth.

Ethan let out a little chuckle. "You keep saying that."

"I can't help it. I've never been kissed like that before."

"That I agree with, I've never kissed a woman like that before. It's you, Theresa. You stir up all of these feelings in me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Theresa looked over at the TV. "That must have been some kind of make out session, the movie is over!"

"We can rent it another time. And, as much as I'd like to kiss you again, it's getting late, and I don't want Pilar to worry about you."

Theresa looked at the clock and sighed. "I guess your right. Such a gentleman."

"Don't you mean, knight in shinning armor?"

"Will I _ever _be able to live my past down?"

"I'm thinking no!" Ethan laughed.

Ethan and Theresa got up off of the couch, and Ethan grabbed Theresa's keys before they went for the door.

"Well, thank you Ethan, for a wonderful evening."

"Thank you for dinner. I hope we can do it again, soon."

"Dinner or...after dinner?" Theresa asked coyly.

"Both", Ethan replied, as his eyes danced for Theresa.

She hated to leave, but knew if she stayed one minute longer, it would be another hour before she got home.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

"One more kiss goodbye?" Ethan asked.

Theresa smiled up at him. "Okay, but a short one, or I'll never make it home!"

"I promise." And Ethan leaned down, and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Wow", Theresa said as they parted.

"You need to say something else after I kiss you besides that!"

"I'll try and figure something out. Goodnight, Ethan."

"Goodnight, Theresa."


	11. Sunday Morning

As the parish of St. Margaret Mary's church filtered in, Theresa tried hard to remember what she was taught in Sunday school. But it was hard not to turn her head and look for Ethan and his family to come in. She had had trouble sleeping last night, the kisses that she and Ethan had shared kept dancing in her memory. As she unconsciously touched her lips, remembering the goodnight kiss they shared, she suddenly felt someone slip in to the pew next to her. When she looked up, it Chief Bennett, followed by Grace, Jessica, and Ethan.

"Good morning, Theresa."

"Good morning, Chief Bennett. Here, let me move down."

"Thank you. Good morning, Pilar."

"Good morning Sam, Grace.'

Theresa couldn't help but look past Grace and Jessica to Ethan. He was looking at her too, and when their eyes met, they both smiled at each.

"Good morning," he mouthed to her.

"Good morning," she mouthed back to him. She felt a tiny giggle escape from her lips, as Ethan reached down to put the kneeler in front of him down.

"Theresa!" Pilar leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Church is not a place you come to socialize and laugh. You are here to praise God."

"Sorry Mama."

While the rest of the Bennett's had their heads down in prayer, Ethan looked up at Theresa and once again mouthed words to her..."Sorry"

She looked at him and smiled, and looked down in to her lap. This was going to be a hard mass to get through, she thought to herself.

As the mass began, Theresa tried hard not to let her mind wander back to the events of last night. Really not nice to think that way in church! She followed along with the readings, tried hard to listen to the sermon, and followed along to the prayers she knew by heart. When the sign of peace came, she turned to her mother and brothers with their wives, and then turned to Chief Bennett and his family. When she went to Ethan, he simply looked at her and smiled, and held out his hand. As she leaned over to place her hand in his, Ethan smiled at her.

"Peace be with you, Theresa"

As their hands touched, they could both feel a bolt of electricity between them.

"Peace be with _you_, Ethan." She smiled back at him.

Mass was finally over, and the Lopez-Fitzgerald's were outside chatting with the Bennett's.

Ethan walked over to Theresa and apologized to her again.

"Hey, sorry about getting you in trouble with Pilar."

"That's all right. I should be used to it. You made me laugh out loud so many times in church when we were little, you'd think I wouldn't find you funny by now."

Ethan leaned in close to Theresa and whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you still do."

Theresa smiled at him as he straightened himself up next to her.

"So, where are you off to now?" Theresa asked. "Interested on going somewhere for brunch?"

"Oh, Theresa I'm sorry. My mother is having brunch at the mansion, I told her I'd be there."

"Oh no, Ethan. Go, have a good time. I can talk to you later."

Ethan thought for a moment. "How about you come with me? You haven't seen my mother since you've been back. I know she'd love to see you, and we can tell her about us."

"Don't you think maybe we should tell our other families first? The one's standing right in front of us?"

"Good point. Well, no time like the present!" With that, Ethan grabbed Theresa's hand and dragged her to where their families were standing.

"Whoa, Ethan, wait!" she screamed.

"Hey Ethan, where's the fire?" Luis said as he and Theresa moved in front to the crowd.

"No fire, Luis. Just an announcement."

"Ethan, is everything okay?" Grace asked.

"Grace, things could not be any better. I just wanted to let you all know, that Theresa and I are officially dating."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Grace cried, and ran over to give them both a hug.

"I couldn't agree more!" Pilar cried, and hugged them also.

"Well, gee, there's a big surprise!" Kay said sarcastically.

"Yeah, no kidding. I'm surprised it took you guys this long!" Miguel agreed with his wife. "I figured you would have made this announcement the first night Theresa came home!"

"What you are you two talking about?" Ethan asked.

"Ethan, the chemistry between you and Theresa was obvious at her party! We knew this was going to happen five minutes after the two of you got in the same room again!" , Sheridan replied.

"Well, then. I guess you all won't mind if I take Theresa to see Mother up at the mansion and tell her, too."

"Have a wonderful time." Grace said.

"Hey, Ethan, I know he's your step father and all, but make sure Theresa isn't left alone with Julian. I don't trust him." Luis had encountered Julian Crane before, and didn't like him one bit. It was a known fact in Harmony that he was a womanizer, and had cheated on his wife more than once, often in the mansion when Ivy was in the next room.

"Don't worry about Theresa, Luis. I promise I won't let anything happen to her."

"Oh my gosh, Ethan. The Crane Mansion! Am I dressed all right?" Theresa suddenly became nervous about her appearance.

"Theresa, you look absolutely beautiful, as always." And Ethan leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Okay, get outta here before you make us all sick!" Kay said.

They said their goodbyes, and were off to the Crane Mansion.


	12. Meeting the Cranes

As the couple stood at the door to the Crane Mansion, waiting to be let in, Theresa was growing more and more nervous.

"Theresa, calm down. Everything is going to be fine."

"Hey, it's not everyday you meet your boyfriend's mother!"

"I know, but you've met my mother before. This is just a re-acquaintance with her."

"And Julian..."

"Don't worry. I wont' let Julian anywhere near you. I know what he 's like, too."

As the door opened, Theresa recognized Phyllis, a maid that her mother worked with at the mansion.

"Good morning, Phyllis", Ethan said.

"Good morning Mr. Bennett....Theresa? Is that you??"

"Hi Phyllis! How are you?" She leaned over and gave Phyllis a hug.

"I haven't seen you in years! Pilar told me you were home. You look wonderful! And congratulations on your job! Pilar brags about you everyday to all of us!"

"Thank you, Phyllis, that's nice to hear."

"Well, if you two will have a seat in the front room, I'll get Mrs. Crane."

"Thanks, Phyllis", Ethan said as she walked out of the room. "Well, that should have helped you feel more comfortable."

"Yes, it did. It's nice to see a friendly face."

"Here, let me show you another one, up close and personal." Ethan said, as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Ahem..." Ivy cleared her throat to let Ethan and Theresa know she was in the room.

Ethan quickly pulled away from Theresa and turned his head.

"Good morning, Mother." he said as he jumped off of the couch to greet her.

"Good morning darling, it's nice to see you. And who may I ask is....Theresa? Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, Pilar's daughter, is that you?"

"Good morning, Mrs. Crane", and Theresa also came from the couch and extended her hand.

"Darling, look at you!" Ivy declared, as she ignored Theresa's hand and went to hug her. As she pulled away, Ivy looked her up and down. "Why my word, you have turned out to be quite the stunning young woman!"

"Yes, she has", Ethan mumbled under his breath, also giving Theresa the once over, again, for the 10th time that day.

"Why, thank you Mrs. Crane."

"Oh dear, call me Ivy, please. It is wonderful to see you again! Pilar has done nothing but talk about you ever since you graduated. How fabulous that you found a job at Envy! It is my absolute favorite boutique in town! And your mother also tells me that you are their Personal Designer now?"

"Yes, Maria just told me the other day. I'm very excited to start work, although I am glad for the time off she gave me before I actually started."

"Yes," Ivy said, turning her head in Ethan's direction. "I can see you've been putting it to good use."

"Ivy, I'm sorry that you saw us..."

"Theresa, there is no need to apologize. I'm just happy that you and Ethan have finally found your way back to each other. I must say, it's not a big surprise to see you two together." As she talked, she motioned for them to follow her in to the dinning room.

"Why do you say that, Mother?"

"Well, Ethan. Theresa is all you ever talked about as a child! Every week when you came to visit, it was always "Theresa this and Theresa that." I was sure you two were joined at the hip at Sam and Grace's house!"

"See, I told you," Ethan whispered in Theresa's ear, as he pulled out her chair, and helped her push it in after she sat down.

"Mother, is Julian joining us?"

"Oh yes, but he's on with Alistair. Let's give him a few minutes before we start. Theresa can tell me more about working at the boutique."

Just as Theresa was about to begin, Julian walked in from his office.

"Ah well, thank you for waiting everyone. Ethan, my boy, good to see you." Julian walked over to where Ethan was sitting to shake his hand.

"Julian. All is well with Alistair?"

"Yes, fine, fine" Julian had become distracted by Ethan's companion. "Hello. I don't believe we've met. I'm Julian Crane." He took Theresa's hand and held it to his mouth to kiss it.

"Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald", she replied, very uneasily.

"Pilar and Martin's daughter?" he asked, still holding on to her hand.

"That's right."

"Well, your mother is Ivy's right hand woman! And Martin, he was such a ...well, a ...large man. He worked for us for quite a few years before..."

"Let's all eat, shall we?" Ethan wanted to desperately change the subject. It was no big secret in Harmony, that the Lopez-Fitzgerald's blamed the Crane's for Martin's disappearance.

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea! Julian....Julian..." Ivy was trying to get her husband away from Theresa. She could see the look of fear in her eyes.

Ethan noticed Julian had no intention of leaving Theresa's side, so he immediately grabbed her hand away from Julian.

"Is your hand all right today?" he asked.

"All right?" Theresa asked confused.

"Yes", he made his eyes bulge, so she would realize he was trying to help her. "After you hurt it last night, I just want to make sure you're all right."

"Oh, I'm sorry my dear," Julian said to Theresa, "I had no idea."

Ethan kissed her hand so that she would feel better. He leaned over to kiss her cheek and whispered "We're outta here as soon as brunch is over."

Theresa looked up at him and smiled, as a way to thank him.


	13. Don't Go Too Fast

"Is Julian Crane always that creepy?" Theresa asked as Ethan drove her home from the Mansion.

"Well, he's no prize. He has cheated on my mother countless times."

"I don't mean to be rude, by why does she stay?"

"Well, for one reason, the money. I know that sounds shallow, but my mother has never lived without money. Her family was rich, and now, being married to a Crane, she has more money than she could dream of."

"But if her own family has money, why not divorce him and live off of that?"

"I said her family _was_ rich. After her father died, she realized how much in to debt he was. All of her inheritance went to pay them. If she left Julian, she'd have nothing. And deep down, I think she does love Julian, and I think he loves her. He just needs to grow up."

"If he's not grown up at his age, there's no hope. But has he always acted that way around girls that you've brought to the mansion?"

Ethan pulled the car in to Theresa's driveway and shut it off. Then he turned to her and touched her cheek.

"I've never brought another woman to the mansion before."

"Really?" she asked, as she nuzzled her cheek against his hand.

"Really." He took Theresa's hand in his own, and stared in to her eyes. "I want to tell you something, but I'm afraid it will scare you."

"If your going to tell me what I think your going to tell me, it won't scare me, because I've want to say the same thing to you."

"Theresa," Ethan continued, "I love you. Not just as a friend, I love _you_."

"Oh my god, I'm so glad you said that, I was afraid you'd think I was a freak if I told you first."

"Then you do love me?"

"Oh Ethan, yes! How could I not? It seems so fast, it's only been three days after not seeing each other for six years! But I am head over heels for you."

"I've always been in love with you, Theresa. I just couldn't bring myself to admit it to you. I've loved you for as long as I can remember."

"I feel the same way, Ethan. I love you so much. I guess I didn't realize how much until you went away, and I couldn't see you all the time. I tried to tell myself it was just a little girl crush, but I thought about you all the time. I even began to compare guys to you when I went to college. I love you, Ethan Bennett. I always have, I always will."

Theresa leaned over to press her lips next to Ethan's, but his were already there. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him as close to her as she could. He reached up for the back of her hair, and gripped it again, so gently. Theresa felt shockwaves going through her body. Their tongues were gently teasing one another. As they came up for air, Ethan sighed out Theresa's name, and began to kiss her neck.

"Ethan, you feel so good."

"Theresa, I love you. I could say it a million times, and always need to say it more. I love you, I love you."

He grabbed the back of her head again, and crashed their lips together. As they parted for air, this time it was Theresa who began kissing Ethan's neck.

"You're driving me crazy," he said in a husky voice. "But we can't keep doing this in your mother's driveway. She'll be home soon, and from the looks of the windows in my car, she'll know exactly what we've been doing."

"Then let's go to your place", she whispered to him, as she trailed more kisses up and down his neck, pausing momentarily to nibble on his ear lobes.

"Theresa, if I bring you to my apartment now, you'll never make it home again." he said, as he took her hands off of his head and held them in his.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just want to spend every moment I can with you."

"I know, I do to. But let's just make sure we don't rush things, okay? I know we've known each other for years, but let's not make that cloud our judgment."

"Okay, well, what about dinner then?"  
  
"I'd love to baby, but I have a lot of work to prepare for tomorrow. Can I have a rain check?"

"Only if you kiss me goodbye!"

"How about I walk you to your door?"

"Even better."

After exiting the car, Ethan grabbed Theresa's hand as they walked the few feet to her front door.

"Okay, Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald, front door service."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Bennett. Will you call me tomorrow?"

"I'll call you tonight before I go to bed, just to say goodnight and I love you."

"Well, I love you, and I'll be waiting for your call!"

"Bye, Theresa." He kissed her again.

"Bye, Ethan."


	14. Two Dates Made

Time seemed to fly by for the young couple. They tried to spend as much time together as they could, but Theresa was careful not to keep Ethan from his work. She knew how much making partner meant to him. Soon, it was time for her to start her own job, and she loved every minute of it. On her first day, Ethan sent her a bouquet of pink roses, her favorite, to the shop. After 3 months of Theresa being home, they both seemed to have a balance of work, family, and their relationship. Theresa's designs were boosting profits at the boutique, so much so, that she decided she could afford her own apartment. And Ethan was closer than ever to being made partner. The two didn't see much of each other during the week, but spent almost all of their time together on weekends. Every other Sunday, Ethan was invited to the Crane Mansion to see his mother and have brunch, and Theresa almost always joined him. But this particular Sunday, Theresa had to finish up some work at the boutique, so Ethan went alone.

"Good morning, Mother", Ethan said as he entered the doorway.

"Hi darling, where's Theresa?"

"She had work to do at the boutique, so she couldn't make it. She sends her apologies."

"Actually, I'm glad she's not here. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, it's fine. It's about Gwen Hotchkiss", she said, as Ethan pushed her chair in for her.

"Oh good lord, that woman is still calling me on a weekly basis. Luckily she's given up on calling me at home, so now she calls at work. I keep having the secretary tell her I'm in a meeting."

"Yes, well. I was talking to Julian the other day about her. It seems as though he and Jonathon have struck a deal. If you start dating Gwen, Julian will give you a job at Crane Industries as their legal counsel!" Ivy was so excited at the prospect of Ethan working for the Crane's. If he played his cards right, he might even be named heir to Crane fortune. Ivy and Julian only had one son together, Fox, and he was no where near mature enough to become head of Crane Industries.

"Mother, are you serious? I can't start dating Gwen, I'm in love with Theresa!"

"But Ethan, this is an excellent opportunity for you! Who knows how far you could go in Crane Industries, maybe even be the President of the Company one day!"

"While I love you for your concern for me, don't be. I'm very close to making partner in the law firm that I work for. That's enough for me, Mother. I don't need all of the things you need out of life. I have my work, and Theresa. Right now, I'm happy."

Ivy knew her son well enough to know that arguing about it would not work. Ethan had had the life she had thought she always wanted, with Sam, living simply, no need for exorbent amounts of money. But when she found out she was pregnant with Sam's child, the thought of leaving all of the Winthrop and Crane money behind to be a cop's wife just wasn't enough for her. That's why she chose to stay with Julian.

"Oh all right, Ethan. I'm not going to argue this with you. But would you please at least do me one thing? Take Gwen out for dinner, just to tell her about you and Theresa. That way you're at least doing the polite thing. And that way I won't have Julian and Jonathon breathing down my neck."

Ethan sighed. His mother was right, it was the least he could. He didn't like hurting people intentionally, but he also didn't like Gwen calling him every five minutes. The best way to break things off was to take her to dinner and tell her the truth.

"Fine, Mother. I'll take Gwen out. But just once, and only to tell her that there will be nothing between us. Make sure you tell Julian and Mr. Hotchkiss that. And for God's sake, don't let Gwen's annoying mother know anything about it. I can't stand that woman, and if I know her, she'll try something."

"Thank you, Ethan. This will make my life so much easier. But, what will you do about Theresa?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if telling her would be a good idea. I don't want to her to get upset. You know what, most Monday nights she is stuck at the boutique late. I'll ask Gwen out for tomorrow night, and I won't have to worry about Theresa every knowing what's going on."

Gwen Hotchkiss was anxiously pacing around the Hotchkiss Estate, waiting for a phone call from Ethan Bennett. Her father told her that he would be calling. He also told her about the deal that he and Julian Crane had struck up, that would ensure Ethan eventually became the heir to the Crane fortune. Two for the price of one, she thought to herself, rich and good looking.

As the phone began to ring, her heart began to race. She decided to let one of the servants answer it, that way she didn't look to desperate.

"Ms. Hotchkiss, a Mr. Bennett on the phone for you."

"Thank you, Amy. I'll take it right here." Gwen calmly walked over to pick up the phone in the sitting room. "Gwen Hotchkiss..."

"Hi Gwen, its Ethan Bennett."

"Oh Ethan, what a lovely surprise! I didn't expect to be hearing from you today!"

"Well, I just got back from seeing my mother at the Crane Mansion, and I thought I should call you and invite you to dinner. My mother had a conversation about you, and I think we need to talk."

"Why, Ethan, I'd love to go to dinner with you! What day would you like to go?" She was glad this was a phone conversation, that way Ethan couldn't see her jumping around like a schoolgirl.

"How about tomorrow night? 7 o'clock at the Country Club?"

"Well, tomorrow is a little sudden, Ethan. But luckily my calendar is free." Wow! He must really be enamored with me if he wants to meet that soon!

"Great. Should I meet you there, or come and pick you up?"

"Oh Ethan, don't be bothered to drive! I can pick you up in the family limousine."

"No need to bother picking me up, Gwen. I'll already be there. I have a golf date with a client. I can meet you there."

"All right, Ethan. I'll see you there. Thank you for calling."

"Thanks, Gwen. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Ethan." But he was already gone. "Oh, I have to go shopping!"

After Theresa finished up at the boutique, she thought she stop by Ethan's apartment, just to see how brunch went with his mother.

She knocked on the door, noticed it was open, and let her in.

"See you tomorrow", Ethan said, as he saw her from the doorway, and hung up the phone. "Hey beautiful! What are you doing here?" he asked as he made his way over to her, and enveloped her in warm embrace.

"I just got all of my sketching done, so I thought I'd come over and see how brunch was."

"Ahh, it was okay, but I missed you. There was no one for my mother to gawk over and ask design questions to."

Theresa laughed. Ivy made it a point to ask Theresa's opinion about her wardrobe every Sunday that she was there. But she liked it, it made her feel special to know that Ivy Crane was asking her opinion about her fashion sense.

"I keep telling your Mother to come to the boutique and let me design her a dress, but she never does. On the phone with anyone special?"

Ethan became nervous. How much had Theresa heard? "No one as special as you. Come sit down on the couch and hold me", he said, pulling her gently towards the living room, "I haven't been held by you since last night at your mother's house."

As they sat on the couch together, Theresa snuggled up next to Ethan, and laid her head on his chest.

"I love to listen to your heart beat", Theresa said softly.

"It beats only for you", he replied, as he lifted her chin with his finger, and pressed his lips against hers. Theresa tilted her head back and basked in the feeling of Ethan's soft lips against hers. It was the soft kisses she loved the best, they made her entire body ache for him.

Soon their tongues were mixing together, and their hands were roaming each other's bodies freely. Theresa ran her fingers through his hair, and down his neck, on to his face. Ethan moved his hands up and down her back, and finally settled them on her back side. Theresa could feel the passion welling up inside her, and could feel Ethan becoming more and more aroused by the minute. She let herself fall back, and pulled Ethan on top of her. She loved the feeling of Ethan's body on top of hers. His body was big and strong, but he was soft and caring, it was one of the things Theresa loved about him the most.

Pulling away for air, Ethan looked her in the eyes. "How do we always seem to end up this way", he asked jokingly. It seemed as though every time they were alone together, they ended up kissing on the couch.

"I'm sorry", she said, as they both sat up. "I love you so much, and I love the feel of you. If we could spend all day just holding one another, I would be in heaven."

"How about all night?" he asked her softly, as he looked in to her eyes and kissed her hands.

Theresa felt her heart begin to race again. "Are saying, what I think you're saying?"

"I love you, Theresa. And if you'll have me, I'd like to show you how much I love you."

"Oh, Ethan", she said, and kissed him again.

"I thought that since we both took Friday off so we could have a long weekend together, we could start it a little early. You could come over, I'll cook you dinner. Then we'll watch a movie, and, instead of going home after the movie, you could stay with me". As Ethan told her of his idea, his eyes were sparkling.

Suddenly, Theresa began to feel nervous. She knew she had to tell him that she had never done this before. She looked in to his eyes. "Ethan? There's something I have to tell you." She inhaled a deep breath, and let it out. "I've never....been with a man, before. You'll be my first." she said shyly, looking down to her hands.

Ethan's heart began to race faster. How could he be lucky enough to have a woman as beautiful as Theresa, and a virgin, too? "Well, that makes what I have to tell you a lot easier." he said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Theresa, I've never made love to a woman before, either."

Theresa sat in shock. Ethan Bennett, the most eligible bachelor in Harmony, was still a virgin?

"Ethan, really?"

"I know, you probably think I'm a prude. But after growing up with my father and Grace, and seeing the kind of love that they shared, and seeing how Julian treated my mother by having sex with many different women, I knew I wanted to wait to share myself with the woman that I truly loved, you."

Theresa felt tears forming in her eyes. He loved her so much, that he saved himself for her. She felt the tears streaming down her face. "How did I get so lucky?" she asked out loud.

"I ask myself that same question, every time I lay eyes on you."

"Oh Ethan," she said, as she laid her head on his chest again, "It's going to be the most romantic night of our entire lives!"

"I promise you it will be", he said as he kissed the top of her head. "Now, here's the next question, what can I make you for dinner?"

"Hmm, well, what can you make?"

"A very mean TV dinner."

Theresa laughed. "What else ya got?"

"I can do spaghetti."

"That sounds wonderful, but only if you let me bring the wine."

"How about champagne instead?"

"Perfect! Now, here's my next question for you."

"What's that?"

"What is your favorite color of lingerie?" She smiled a devilish smile.

"OH I CANNOT WAIT FOR THURSDAY!"


	15. Unexpected Plans

"Will this Monday ever be over?" Ethan asked himself out loud. It was only 10am, and he still had 4 hours to go until his golf meeting. Then, he had to meet Gwen for their dinner. How he dreaded it. The only thing that kept him going was thinking about Theresa, and Thursday night. They had taken things slow and waited to make love, just like they said they would. But they had been together long enough now, that they felt ready. They had talked about it before Sunday, but the opportunity for Ethan to make it a special night had never presented itself until now.

"Mr. Bennett?" his secretary said over the intercom.

"Yes?"

"Gwen Hotchkiss on line 3 for you."

Oh I might as well. "Thank you. This is Ethan Bennett."

"Ethan, hi it's Gwen. How are you?"

"Oh busy, as usual."

"I'm sure you are, I was surprised to actually get through to you!"

"You actually caught me at my desk, not in a meeting."

"Well, I'm just double checking for tonight. Are you sure you don't need me to come over with the limo and pick you up?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Like I said, I'll already be at the Country Club, but thank you anyway."

"Oh that's right! Well, I guess this was kind of a wasted call. But I am looking forward to tonight. I found the perfect dress at Envy!"

Ethan's heart began to race. Had she picked out the dress today, when Theresa was there? Did Theresa know that he was having dinner with Gwen?

"I asked for your friend Theresa, but she was busy with a client in her office."

"Oh, well, she's usually pretty busy on Mondays." His heart came out of his throat and in back in to his chest. "Well, thank you again, Gwen. But I had better get going. I'll see you tonight."

"Six o'clock, I can't wait! Bye Ethan!"

When Theresa looked at the clock, it was 5:30. Wow, I'm done early for a change, she thought to herself. She turned off her lights, locked her door, and made her way through the store to head home. As she passed a rack, she noticed Sheridan.

"Hey Sheridan!"

"Theresa, hi! I thought you were gone home already?"

"No, actually, I'm done early for once on a Monday. What are you doing here this late?"

"I'm killing time until I have to meet Luis for dinner. Hey, why don't' you and Ethan come with us?"

"Ethan is with a client for dinner, but if you've got room, I'd love to go!"

"Oh of course there's room! I'll just call the Country Club and have them add one more to the table", she said, as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse.

"I won't be interrupting a romantic night out, will I?"

"Oh, no. You'll be interrupting a "I don't' feel like cooking night" though! Yes, I have a reservation for 6:30, Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald, could you please add one more to that table...Thank you! All set! This will be wonderful, Luis will be so surprised! But now we have 45 minutes to kill!"

"I can take care of that, easy", Theresa said. "Come to my office with me, I'll show you some designs I'm working on. I'm actually doing one of them with you in mind!"

"Great, let's go!"


	16. The Kiss That Changed Everything

"Thank you again, Ethan, for inviting me to dinner. It's wonderful to finally see you! I feel like we've been playing phone tag for ages!"

"It's no problem, Gwen. After talking to my mother at the mansion yesterday, I knew there were some things we needed to talk about."

"Well, let's not talk business just yet. I'm having way to much fun watching all of the other women in the room envy me because I am sitting with the most handsome man in Harmony...", she said seductively, as she stroked Ethan's arm.

"Well, thank you, Gwen. You look lovely, also." He pulled him arm back down to his side. "Is that the dress you bought at Envy?" Ethan asked, his mind floating back to Theresa and the reason they were here.

"Yes, it is. Don't you love it? It's so hip and fresh, I feel so beautiful in it! Y our friend Theresa really is quite the designer."

"Well actually Gwen, Theresa and I are..."

"May I take your orders now?" the waitress said as she came to the table.

"Oh, sure", Ethan said. He was disappointed that his opportunity to tell Gwen about Theresa had gone sour. "Why don't you go first Gwen?"

"Well, I would think so!" Gwen exclaimed. "I'll start with the calamari, and a garden salad, no cabbage, crumby blue cheese dressing, and for the main course, I'll have the Eggplant Parmesan."

"Excellent Ma'am. And you sir?"

"French onion soup, and 10oz. Delmonico, well done, with baked potato. Thank you very much."

"Thank you sir. I'll be back with your appetizers momentarily." And the waitress was gone.

Just then, the band began to play. "Oh Ethan, I do love this song. Would you please dance with me?"

Ethan shifted nervously in his chair, and thought quickly. Dancing, there won't be any interruptions, I can tell her about Theresa.

"Of course Gwen," and her took her hand to lead her to the dance floor.

Theresa, Luis and Sheridan were waiting for the Hostess to show them where they would be sitting.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald, nice to see you again. You're sitting near the dance floor."

"Ooohh, maybe I can convince you to dance later!", Sheridan squealed.

"And Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald, your friend, Ms. Hotchkiss is also here. In fact, I think she and her escort are on the dance floor now." She began to lead them to their table.

"I can't wait", Luis said. "I'm starved!"

As Gwen and Ethan began to dance, she put her head down on his shoulder. Ethan was very unnerved by this.

"Gwen, I'd really like to talk to you about something..."

"You know, Ethan. I've always dreamed, that one day, I would have my wedding reception here."

"That's nice Gwen. But I really need to tell you that..."

"Oh, Ethan. I know what you're going to tell me."

"You do?"

"Yes, I know about the deal that Julian Crane and my father made. And I'm sure you're excited about it. I am too."

"No Gwen. Actually I...."

"Oh, Ethan! It's not like it's an arranged marriage or anything. It's jus the two of us dating."

"Well, that's the thing, because I'm already..."

"I know, you already have feelings for me. I have feelings for you, too. That's why it makes this all so wonderful!" Gwen was so overcome with emotion, that she threw her arms around Ethan's neck and kissed him.

"Here's your table here", the hostess said, as they three of them began to sit. Theresa glanced at the dance floor and noticed two people kissing.

"And that woman involved in a very long kiss with that man, is Gwen Hotchkiss....I ....believe", Theresa stopped mid sentence when Gwen pulled away from the kiss, as the music ended. "Ethan?" She said, loud enough to make his head turn to see her standing there.

"Oh God, Theresa", he said, as he watched her run out of the restaurant.


	17. Let Me Explain

"Theresa, wait!" Ethan cried, as he tried to run after her. But Luis stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Ethan, what the hell are you doing? Why are you here kissing Gwen Hotchkiss when you're supposedly in love with my sister?" Luis raged.

"WHAT?" Gwen asked after she had walked back from the dance floor and heard the conversation. "Ethan's not in love with the maid's daughter. He's in love with me!"

"Gwen, don't talk about Theresa that way!" Sheridan yelled at her.

"What are you doing Ethan? Playing both women at once? You can't get what you want from one, so you go get it from someone else??" Luis had never spoken this way to Ethan, but he was so mad, all he could see was red.

"Are you implying that the only reason Ethan is with me, is to "get what he wants?" Gwen screamed at Luis.

"Hey, if the shoe fits, sister. Every guy in town has bragged about seeing the four poster walls in your bedroom!"

"LUIS!" Sheridan cried.

"All right, that's it! Would everyone please just stop and listen to me! Your wasting my time, I have to get to Theresa!"

"Your not going anywhere near Theresa! I'll find her myself. Come on Sheridan." he said in a gruff, as he grabbed Sheridan by the hand and led her out. Sheridan turned around in time to shoot both Ethan and Gwen a nasty glare before leaving.

As they got to the doors to leave the restaurant, Luis looked at Sheridan. "I'll go this way, you go that way. Call on the cell phone when you find her." And they both left.

As Theresa ran out of the restaurant, she felt like her world was crumbling around her. She looked for someplace to go, and saw the beach up ahead. She ran to the shoreline as fast as she possibly could.

Why, why would Ethan do something like that? Just yesterday we were planning a romantic evening together, and now.......that was it. She had put Ethan off for too long.

He knew Gwen would have sex with him, so he called her. But he told me he was a virgin, too. Why would he lie to me? She was so confused and scared, all she could think to do was sit by the shore and cry.

Soon, she heard her name being called. A woman's voice....Sheridan.

"Theresa, is that you?" Sheridan called as she got closer. "Oh Theresa," she said, realizing it was her, "are you all right?" Sheridan knelt down next to her.

"Sheridan", Theresa cried as she wrapped her arms around her, "why would he do this? He told me he loved me, he said, he had always loved me, ever since we were kids! We were planning our lives together. We even...we were going to..."

"What honey? You can tell me..."

Theresa pulled herself from Sheridan to look at her. "We planned on "being together", for the first time, Thursday night. He would have been my first. He told me, I would be his first. Why would he do this, Sheridan?" Theresa threw her arms around Sheridan again, and began to sob even louder.

"I don't know sweetie. But right now, it doesn't matter. Let's just get you home."

"Oh please Sheridan, I can't go to my apartment, I just can't be alone."

"Okay, we can go to Pilar's..."

"No, Mama will just ask questions. I don't want to talk anymore tonight."

"I understand, come home with us. Let me just call Luis and let him know I've found you."

"Would you please explain to me what that was all about?" Gwen asked in a definite huff.

Ethan sighed. He wanted to go find Theresa, he had to explain to her. But he knew he had to deal with Gwen first. "Gwen, I've been trying to tell you something all night..."

"Yes, Ethan I know. You want to start dating so that you can have that position at Crane Industries."

"No Gwen, that's not it. But you've been interrupting me all night so I couldn't tell you. Please listen to me. My mother did tell me about the offer that Julian made me, but I turned it down. I've been dating Theresa. We're in love. I've been in love with Theresa my whole life, Gwen. I brought you here tonight to tell you that, so that you would stop calling me, thinking that there was a chance for us. There is none. I love Theresa with my whole heart and soul. I'm going to marry her one day. Or at least I thought I was, now she will probably never speak to me again."

"Ethan darling, I think you're confused. You can't be in love with the housekeeper's daughter. Do you realize what you'd be giving up if you turn down my father and Julian's offer? You'll be stuck at that rinky dink law office forever!"

"Gwen, it's no rinky dink law office. It is one of the most prestigious firms on the East Coast. And if I ever hear you insult Theresa or Pilar again......Goodbye, Gwen. I'm sorry you had to find out this way." And Ethan ran off.

"No one turns down Gwen Hotchkiss", Gwen said out loud. As she headed back to the table to grab her purse, she noticed the waitress standing there.

"Ms. Hotchkiss, can I put this on your tab?"

Ethan looked everywhere he could see for Theresa. Up and down the entire beach, behind the restaurant, he even checked the entire golf course. She was no where to be found. When he got to his car to sit and think, he called her apartment. No answer. He called Pilar's house, but he could tell by the way she talked, she had no idea that anything had happened that night. So he simply told her they hadn't talked all day, and he was just calling to see if she might be there. The next call he made was to Luis and Sheridan's house.

"Hello?"

"Luis? It's Ethan, listen, don't hang up. I need to know where Theresa is. I need to explain to her what happened tonight."

"Ethan, she doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"She's there?"

"Yes, but she's in bed in the guest bedroom. Listen, I've calmed down, but I'm still mad at you. We've been best friends forever, and when you and Theresa started dating, I knew you'd never hurt her. But you have, and you've disappointed me at the same time."

"But Luis, it's not what you think. I don't care about Gwen. I was there to tell her to stop calling me!"

"That's why the two of you were kissing on the dance floor?"

"No! She thought I wanted to get involved with her. Every time I tried to tell I was in love with Theresa, she interrupted me. She kissed me before I had a chance to tell her."

Luis was silent on the other end of the phone. It did make sense what Ethan was saying, and he had never known Ethan to be anything but honest with him.

"Ethan, just give her until tomorrow. Let her get some rest and clear her head. She's really confused right now. And hurt most of all. Let it be until tomorrow. When she wakes up, I'll tell her what you told me, then she if see wants to talk or not."

Ethan knew that Luis wasn't going to let him see Theresa tonight, so he decided to take matters in his own hands.

"Okay Luis. If that's what you think is best."

"I do. Now, you go get some rest, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay Luis, thanks a lot, for all of your help."

"Your welcome, see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Three hours later, after he knew that Sheridan and Luis were asleep, Ethan made his way to the Crane estate, to Sheridan's cottage. He had been to the cottage enough times to know which window was the guest bedroom. If he could just explain things to Theresa, he was sure she would understand.

Standing outside the window, he said a silent prayer that it was open. As he lifted it, it was. "Thank you, God." he whispered, and quietly climbed in through the window.

As he looked over to the bed, the moonlight was shinning right on Theresa as she lay sleeping. She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my entire life, he thought to himself. There's no way I'm going to lose her, not after waiting almost my entire life to be with her.

He slowly walked over to the bed, and gently sat down on the edge. "Theresa", he whispered, as he lightly shook her. "Theresa, it's me."

Theresa's eyes fluttered open, and immediately recognized Ethan.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered loudly.

"I had to see you, to explain what happened tonight", he whispered back.

"Ethan, please. Not now, I'm too hurt. Please just leave. Before Luis hears you. If he does, and he catches you, he'll kill you, best friend or not."

"Theresa, I'm not going anywhere, not until you hear me out."

Theresa sighed heavily. "Okay," she said, as she reached over to turn on a light. "You've got five minutes. Then please leave."

"Theresa", Ethan started, "I brought Gwen to the Country Club tonight for dinner. That's who I was talking to on the phone yesterday when you came in."

"Oh, I see", Theresa said sarcastically, "setting up a date with one, while the other one is on her way through the front door. You don't miss a beat, do you?"

"Theresa, what are you talking about?"

"I know why you were out with Gwen, Ethan. And I'm sorry that I made you wait so long to have sex with me, that you had to find someone to tide you over in the meantime."

"No, Theresa! That's not it at all! Yesterday, when I was at brunch with Mother, she said that Julian and Gwen's father had struck up a deal. If I started dating Gwen, then Julian would give me a job at Crane Industries as their Legal Counsel."

"Well, that makes it an even better package. Sex, and wealth and fame! How could you say no?"

"Are you going to listen to me? I immediately told my mother no way. I told her I couldn't even entertain the idea of dating Gwen, not when I loved you as much as I do.", Ethan reached out to touch Theresa's face. And as much as she wanted to hate him, hearing those words come out of his mouth, she desperately wanted to be touched by him.

"Mother then suggested that I at least take Gwen out for dinner, to let her down easy. That way she would at least stop calling me all of the time. But every time I tried to tell her, either the waitress came, or Gwen interrupted me. When the band began to play, and Gwen wanted to dance, I thought that would be a perfect place to tell her about us, that way we wouldn't be interrupted. But instead, she told me she knew all about the deal, how excited she was, and all about the feelings she had for me! Before I knew it, she was kissing me, that's when you walked in."

Theresa sat looking at Ethan. She desperately wanted to believe him, but she just wasn't sure. It did all make sense, but she couldn't ignore how hurt she was when she realized it was Ethan kissing Gwen on that dance floor.

"Ethan, if that is the truth, why didn't you just be honest with me. Why didn't you just tell me that you were taking Gwen out to tell her that you and I were in love?"

Ethan took a deep breath. "To be honest with you, Theresa, I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to hurt you."

"Or, you didn't trust in us enough. If you don't have trust in me or our love, Ethan, how do you expect us to have a relationship? If you love me as much as you say you do, you would have trusted me enough to tell me the truth."

"Please Theresa, believe me. I've never do anything to hurt you. I love you, you know that." Ethan didn't know what else he could say to her.

"Ethan, just go, please. Go before Luis comes in. I understand what you're saying, but I'm still not sure if I believe you or not. Go now, and when I'm ready to talk to you, I'll call you."

As much as Ethan hated to do it, he agreed with Theresa. "If that's what you want, that's fine. But guarantee, I'll be calling you in a week, to see if you've...

"No Ethan, don't call me. I'm going to be really busy at the boutique. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk."

Ethan got up off the bed and made his way to the window. Just as he was about to leave, he turned to say one last thing to her. "I love you, Theresa. I always have, and I always will.", and he disappeared in to the night.


	18. Bad Night for Them, Great Day for Him

The next morning, Theresa got up before Sheridan and Luis. She wanted to get to her apartment and get ready for work, and she knew if she saw Luis, he would make her take a day off. But that's not what she needed now, now she needed to concentrate on work, to get her mind off of Ethan.

She left them a note, telling them thank you for all they had done, and saying she would call them later. She grabbed her keys, and left.

As she got to the doorway of her apartment, she looked up, and saw a brown package leaning against the door. Picking it up, she looked at the return address on the label.

Victoria's Secret. "Oh God," she said, as she unlocked the door.

Making her way to the bedroom, she grabbed a knife to open the box. As she sat on her bed, she opened the box, and took out a floor length burgundy silk nightgown, with a matching robe. Her mind flashed back to Sunday afternoon. After she had left Ethan's apartment, she immediately came home, and hopped on the internet. She wanted to have something beautiful to wear for Ethan, on their first night together. She saw the nightgown and new it would be perfect, so she ordered it and the matching robe, and asked for overnight delivery, that way she knew she would have it in time.

Theresa took the matching garments, and held them up to get a better view. As her eyes began to well up with tears, she heard herself say, "I would have looked beautiful". She then fell back on to the bed, and began to cry.

Although Ethan had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before, he knew he had to be in to work today, the partners had scheduled an important meeting with him for 9am sharp.

As he walked in to his office, his secretary looked up at him. "Good morning Mr.......

Mr. Bennett? Are you all right? You look just awful!"

"Well, good morning to you, too, Julie", Ethan said as he walked in to his office.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bennett, but I've never seen you like this before. Are you all right?"

"Well, it wasn't the best night of my life, but I will get through it."

"If you're sure, Mr. Bennett. Then the partners are waiting for you in the conference room."

"Thank you." he said, as he made his way through the halls.

"Ah, Ethan, my boy, Good morning. How are you this fine...." As Mr. Smith stood up to shake Ethan's hand, he looked at him square in the face. "Good Lord, man! What happened to you last night, to leave you looking like this today?"

"Ethan, is everything all right with your family?" Mr. Wesson asked him.

"Yes, of course. My girlfriend and I had a bit of a misunderstanding, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Ethan. But I have some news for you that will not only make you happy, I'm sure once you tell your girlfriend, she'll forget all about your little spat." Mr. Wesson said.

"Yes sir?"

"Ethan, you've been with this firm now for almost 3 years. Now, I know that's not a long time for some lawyers, but for us, it's plenty long enough. Mr. Smith and I have watched your case load build higher and higher as news of your talent spread throughout not only Harmony, but all of the state of Maine. We have the utmost confidence in you, and that's why we'd like to offer you a partnership in our firm."

The three gentleman stood up as Ethan thanked them. "Thank you, thank you so much. I promise, I won't let you down. I'll make you so proud."

"We know you will, son." Mr. Smith replied. "Now, Mr. Wesson and I discussed how we were going to tell the press about your partnership status. We decided to only make it just an announcement, but to make a celebration also. So, in three weeks, we're having a party. We've booked the Seascape for the entire night, and we're inviting not only all of our clients, past and present, but all of Harmony's society and business class. We're going to have a dinner and dancing. Before the dinner begins, Mr. Wesson and I will make the announcement. How does that sound to you?"

"That sounds great, sir. I'm really very excited."

"Now, now Ethan. You're a partner now, you can call us Bart and James. Now, there's one more thing, you have the rest of the day off to tell your family and friends the good news!"

"Oh no, sir, that's not necessary. I have so much work to get done before the..."

"The case against Mr. Peterson has been moved back, so there's no reason you can't take a day for yourself. Go and find your girlfriend and tell her the good news. Go tell your family and celebrate, you deserve it!" Mr. Wesson replied to Ethan's objection.

"Well, if you gentleman insist, then I guess I have no choice. Thank you again", he said, as he shook their hands one more time, and made his way back to his office to get his things.

"Mr. Bennett, you look 100 better. Was that meeting....?"

"Yup! I'm a partner, Julie!"

"Oh, Mr. Bennett!" she cried, and ran from her desk to hug him.

"Thank you, Julie. Now, you know what this means?"

"Oh, I know sir, a lot more work and longer hours to go with it."

"Well, your probably right, there. But what I was going to say was that you need a raise now!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, Mr. Bennett." And she hugged Ethan again.

"Now, the misters Smith and Wesson have given me the day off. So that means, you get the day off, too! Go home and tell your husband and kids the good news! I'm going to find my family and friends and do the same."

When Theresa got to work, she made sure to tell the girl up front answering the phones, that if Ethan called, to put it to her voice mail, and then let her know. She made her way back to her office, and did exactly what she told herself she was going to do, throw herself in to work. She had 4 women come in that morning, all asking for a full wardrobe for their winter in Florida. That was enough to keep her busy for a long time.

At about 11 o'clock, the clerk stuck her head in Theresa's office to tell her Ethan had called, and that it was in her voicemail, like she had asked. Theresa thanked her and she left.

Suddenly Theresa was torn. She wanted to hear what Ethan had to say, but was afraid of what it was. There's only one way to find out, so she picked up her phone and dialed in to her voicemail.

"Hi, Theresa. It's Ethan. I know you told me not to call you, but I just found out some great news, and I had to share it with you. The partners called me in to a meeting today, and offered me a partnership! Can you believe it? All of my hard work has paid off. I also wanted to say thank you. I know that going in to a new relationship with me was hard, but you always made me stick to my work ethic. If you had been any other woman, I wouldn't have the partnership. Anyway, I'm hoping you'll call me back after you get this message. I need to tell you the rest of the good news. I love you, Theresa. Please don't forget that."

As Theresa deleted the message, she began to cry. She was so happy for Ethan. This was all he had ever dreamed about. But she couldn't talk to him. Not yet, she still needed a little more time. She knew the next few days would be busy at the boutique, so she decided to wait and call Ethan on Thursday. Thursday, she thought to herself. Thursday was supposed to be the most special day of my life. "Maybe it still can be", she said out loud. "If you give him another chance, it could still be the most special day of your life."

Ethan hung up his cell phone and took his headset off. He was on his way to his mother's house to tell her the good news, and after already stopping by his father's house to tell he and Grace the good news, he decided to call Theresa from his car on the way. As he suspected, she didn't take his call, but he did leave her a voicemail. All he could do was pray that she listened. Maybe it would get her to call him, and then they could finally get over the whole Gwen fiasco.

"Speak of the devil", he said, as he pulled up in front of the mansion. He looked to see Gwen and her mother, Rebecca getting out of their limousine.

As he pulled his car up, the two turned to look and see who was coming. Gwen recognized Ethan's car, and told her mother who it was. They waited until Ethan came to the door before they rang the bell.

"Ethan, hello! How nice to see you again!"

"Hello Gwen, Mrs. Hotchkiss."

"Hello, Ethan."

"What brings you by today, Ethan?" Gwen asked.

"Actually, I came to see my mother."

"Well, what a coincidence. We have a meeting with your mother. But it can wait until you're done."

As Phyllis opened the door for them, Ethan asked to see Ivy. Phyllis showed them all to the sitting room, as she went to get Ivy.

"Well, Ethan. I was sorry to hear about the misunderstanding between you and Theresa the other night at the Country Club. Gwen told me all about it and she feels just awful", Rebecca said with snide tone to her voice.

"Thank you, Rebecca. But I think you misunderstood Gwen", he replied.

Gwen's head whipped around to look at Ethan, as Rebecca asked what he meant.

"Well, Gwen may have told you she felt awful, but on the night it happened, all she could was insult Theresa and tell me I was crazy to be in love with the housekeepers daughter."

"Oh, Ethan", Gwen replied uneasily, knowing she had to defend her self. "All I meant was...."

"I know exactly what you meant, Gwen", he said sternly, as he threw her daggers with his eyes.

Just then, Ivy came in, followed by Pilar.

"Ethan! How lovely to see you! I didn't expect to see you until Sunday. Hello, Gwen, Rebecca. I hope our meeting can wait until I'm done with Ethan."

"Mother, Pilar. Rebecca and Gwen have already agreed to wait until we're done. Could I talk to you privately? You too, Pilar."

"Of course, Ethan. Let's go in to the solarium. Excuse us, ladies."

As the three of them left the room, Rebecca turned to Gwen. "Why would let Pilar tag along, and not us?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Gwen said, as she stood up and made her way to the Solarium, Rebecca not far behind.

As they stood outside the door, they could hear Ethan begin.

"I had a meeting with the partners in my firm today, and they asked me to join them in being a partner!"

"Oh Ethan, that's wonderful!" Ivy said, as she jumped to her feet and hugged Ethan.

"Yes, Ethan. You deserve it, you've worked very hard for it", Pilar replied, as she hugged Ethan, also. "Have you had a chance to tell Theresa yet? Luis called me this morning and told me what happened last night."

"Yes, and then she told me, too. I hope you don't mind."

"No Mother, that's fine. And yes, I did try to tell Theresa, but the girl at the boutique told me Theresa couldn't be bothered and gave me her voice mail. I'm hoping that she'll call me later today. I need to tell her the rest of the good news."

"The rest?" Ivy questioned Ethan.

"Yes. The partners have decided the best way to make the announcement about my partnership, is to throw a ball. It's going to be at the Seascape in three weeks. I want to tell Theresa so that I can take her. And of course, I want you and Julian, and you Pilar, to come."

"Dios mio, Ethan. I've never been to the Seascape before!"

"Oh Pilar, you can ride with Julian and I!"

"Actually mother, I already asked Dad and Grace to go, too, and they'd like Pilar to join them."

"Well, it doesn't matter as long as she's there. Well, now Ethan. I have a meeting with Rebecca and Gwen, as you know. But afterwards I'd like to take you to lunch to celebrate. You too, Pilar."

"Actually, I would like to find Julian and tell him the news myself. Is he here?"

"Yes, darling. He's in his office. You two go and chat, and as soon as I'm done, I'll come find you and we'll all go."

"Come with me, Ethan. I'll walk with you to Mr. Crane's office."

"Mother! This is perfect!! Theresa isn't talking to Ethan, so she won't be going with Ethan to the ball! I still have a chance to get Ethan Bennett for my own yet!"

"But Gwen, what are you going to do?"

"Oh, I think I need to do some shopping!" Gwen replied, with a grin on her face.


	19. Signed, Sealed, Delivered

When Ethan arrived at his office the next morning, he had a folder on his desk marked urgent, and it was from Bart and James. He opened it to find a hand written note from the both of them.

"Ethan – We are having invitations made up for the ball. They will be ready by the end of the day, and delivered first thing tomorrow. Bart and I need a guest list from you ASAP. Make you sure you invited all of your clients, past, present and future. And any family or friends you'd like to see there. I'm advising that you put a hand written note in with each one, telling the guest how much you look forward to seeing them there. There's a draft of the invitation included in the folder. Have it on my desk by 5.

James"

"Wow", Ethan thought out loud. "Friends, family and all clients, past, present and future? That could take a while." He had so much work to do, how could he do all of this and finish his notes for tomorrow's deposition? Just then, the door to his office opened.

"Good morning, Mr. Bennett. I thought you might like some coffee." Julie said, sitting a cup down in front of him.

"Thanks, Julie. And I'm glad you're here. I need to make a guest list for the ball of all of my clients, past, present and future. Any idea's on how to do that, quickly?"

"Of course, Mr. Bennett", Julie replied. "I have all of that information on my computer. Complete with full names, spouses names, and addresses, all current. I can have that for you in about 5 minutes."

Ethan breathed a deep sigh of relief. "I thought I was going to have to be here all day! You're a lifesaver! I'm also supposed to put a personal note in with all of them. I don't suppose you could...."

"Do it for you? Of course! I think I know you well enough to know what you'd say."

"Oh, thanks Julie. You're the best. Now, I still have to do a list of my friends and family, but that I can do myself, and it won't take long. When you get all of that done, can you bring it to me, and I'll put it in this folder and bring it to James myself."

"Yes, sir." she said, as she walked out of the office and closed the door behind her.

When she left, Ethan picked up the draft of the invitation.

Mr. Bartholomew Smith, Esq. and

Mr. James Wesson, Esq. of

Smith and Wesson, Attorney's at Law

Cordially invite you to a black tie ball

On Saturday, September 4th, 2004

Cocktail hour begins at six o'clock

With dinner to begin at seven o'clock

At the Seascape Restaurant,

Harmony, Maine

Invitation required for admittance

After reading over the rough draft of the invitation, Ethan sat down to make up his list, and start the personal notes. After listing and making personal notes for his father and Grace, his mother and Julian, Luis and Sheridan, Chad and Whitney, Kay and Miguel,

Jessica and Reese, and Pilar, he came to the invitation that meant the most, but the note that would be hardest to write, Theresa.

What could he write to her that would convince her to come? "Only one way to figure it out", he said to himself, and grabbed the notepad to start writing.

"Theresa – I'm hoping that you'll join me as my date for this evening. On what will be the most important night of my life so far, I want to share with the one and only woman I will ever love. You, my soul mate. Design your self a dress that will make you look even more beautiful than you already are. Love, Ethan."

Theresa's Thursday was starting out as a typical Thursday morning, until Maria called her out of her office to the front of the store. When she got there, Maria had an envelope in her hand.

"This just came for you, sweetie. Hand delivered, so it must be important." Theresa took the envelope from her hands and simply stared at it, trying to figure out what it could be.

"Well, don't just stare at it, open it already! The suspense is killing me!"

Theresa looked up at her and laughed, and turned the envelope over to open. She took out the invitation and read it. Then, she read the note attached. As she read them, Maria read it too, over her shoulder.

"Oh Theresa! This is wonderful!! Now you and Ethan can get back together!!"

"Oh, Maria, I don't know. I'm just not sure if I believe Ethan or not."

"Look sweetie, I know he hurt you, and I don't blame you for being mad. But I also think, if he really were just after sex, from either you or Gwen, he wouldn't have bothered crawling through the window to your brother's house at midnight to explain to you what happened. Just think about giving him another chance, think about going, okay?" Maria wrapped her arm around Theresa to give her a hug, and then went back to what she was doing.

Theresa went back to her office and sat down at her desk. As she read over the note from Ethan again, she sighed. "How did he know I had designed a dress for myself?" she wondered, as she pulled the design out from her drawer. Theresa had realized quickly in to their relationship, that Ethan was becoming quite the important figure in Harmony's business circles. She realized that an event like this one would come up eventually, and she knew she wanted to be ready. So one night after Ethan had dropped her off at her apartment, she sat down and designed the gown. Then, she put it away for safe keeping.

Suddenly, the intercom beeped on her phone. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Theresa, it's Shelly from up front. Theresa, you had a phone call yesterday after you left. A woman called and insisted she have an appointment with you today for a personal design. I looked at your calendar and saw that you had 1 o'clock free today, so I penciled her in. I hope that's all right."

"Sure Shelly, that's fine. Just let me get a pen so I can write down her name.........Okay, go ahead, what's her name?"

"Hotchkiss....Gwen Hotchkiss."


	20. Rubbing Salt in Open Wounds Doesn't Alwa...

Theresa stood at the front of the story, waiting. She dreaded her meeting with Gwen. But she knew that designing a dress for her would be a good thing. Once she wore it in public, and the press asked her who designed her dress, it would all be worth it. It would put her name and the boutique on the map. Theresa looked up and saw Gwen walking in to the boutique.

"Gwen, how nice to see you again", Theresa said, holding out her hand to shake Gwen's.

"Hello Theresa! It's nice to see you, too", extending her hand for Theresa's. "I must tell you, I'm very excited about this! I hope you're ready to design me a fabulous gown!"

"Of course!" Theresa replied, with her best game face on, "now let's go back to my office and we'll get started."

As they reached her office, Theresa offered Gwen a chair and something to drink. Then they started talking.

"Well, Gwen. After I found out you were coming in, I took the liberty of 'googling" you, so that I could get a look at your style of dresses. I must say, you have picked some beautiful ones for your past engagements."

"Well, thank you! What a nice compliment! And I must admit, I don't think I've even been "googled"!"

"Well, it's the fastest way I know how to get a person's fashion background. But I did come across something that puzzled me....."

"What's that?"

"For most of the events you attend, you find a designer outside of Harmony. Why let me design your dress? Why not go to New York, or London, or Paris like you normally do?"

"Well, Theresa..." Gwen began, as she shifted around uncomfortably in her chair. Good question! "I knew that you were doing personal designs, and Ethan has told me so many times how wonderful your designs are, I decided to give you a shot!" AHA! She thought to herself, even a little Ethan jab in there, too.

"Well, thank you Gwen, that means a lot to me. Well, in order for me to get started, I need to know where you are going and what the occasion is."

Here we go, Gwen said to herself silently. "Well, this is a little embarrassing, given your history with Ethan, but, he was recently made partner in his law firm and...."

"Yes, I know."

"YOU DO?"

"Yes, he called me and told me first thing Tuesday morning." Theresa knew exactly what Gwen was trying to do, and she wasn't going to let Gwen upset her.

"Oh, how nice. I just assumed that after what happened between you two on Monday night that...."

"What happened between Ethan and I, is our personal business. I prefer to not talk about personal business at work, if that's all right with you."

"Of course. I'm sorry, how unprofessional of me to mention that. Well, anyway, Ethan's partners are throwing a ball to make the announcement of his partnership, and Ethan has asked me to be his escort."

Theresa felt her heart jump in to her throat. Oh, no. Tell me this isn't true. After the beautiful note he had written Theresa, could it be he wrote the same note to both of them?

That way, if Theresa didn't show, Gwen would be there?

"Really?" Theresa replied. "How nice!" She had to make sure Gwen didn't realize that this revelation upset her in anyway.

"Yes, it is. I'm so happy for Ethan. And after Ivy told me the news of his partnership..."

"Oh, you heard it from Ivy, not Ethan himself?"

Touché

"Well, yes", Gwen began to squirm again. "But Ethan did call me to invite me to the ball, personally." There, thought Gwen, that's good.

"He called you, huh?" Now Theresa _knew_ Gwen was lying. After Theresa received her invitation to the ball, she called Sheridan and Luis. Sheridan said that after she received her's and Luis's invitation, she called Ethan to see why he hadn't called them personally. Ethan told Sheridan that he had only told his parents and Pilar in person. He had only called one person, Theresa, and that was because he knew she wouldn't see him. Otherwise, he thought calling people would be drawing too much attention to himself, which he was not one to do. Any invitation Gwen would have received, would have been delivered.

"Yes, Ethan and I talked for hours when he called me, he was so excited! He went on and on about how much hard work he had done over these past few years, and how he knew he could finally make his law firm successful."

Okay, now I know for a fact that she's lying. "Well Gwen, it sounds like you and Ethan are very close."

"Oh yes, we have been for quite some time. But, enough about Ethan and I. What did you have in mind for my dress?"

After hearing all of the dribble Gwen tried to feed her, Theresa had no problem designing her a dress, because she knew Gwen would never use it for the ball.


	21. Clearing the Air Between Them

As Sheridan sat in the Book Café, she noticed it was quiet for a Friday lunch hour. But she was actually glad. After Theresa had called her last night, and asked if they could meet for lunch, she knew that Theresa wanted to talk privately. And she had a good idea what it was about.

When she saw Theresa walk in, she got up from her chair to hug her.

"So, what's going on?" Sheridan asked.

"Well, first of all, thanks for meeting me, I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, I love to go out to lunch. Especially with you and Kay. I never had a sister, so it's fun to go out with you guys, that way we can gossip, too!"

Theresa laughed. "Well, I actually wanted to talk about Ethan, and Gwen."

"That's what I thought."

"I know Gwen is your best friend, Sheridan, but I..."

"You're wondering if I think she would kiss Ethan like that? Yes, I do."

Theresa sighed relief. "Oh thank god you said that! I so desperately wanted to believe Ethan, but wasn't sure."

"Gwen is one of my best friends, but she's also very spoiled. If she sees something she wants, she'll do whatever it takes to get it. I also know Ethan. Not only from being Luis best friend, but don't forget, his mother lived in the same house I did growing up. If Ivy had something to do when Ethan was there, which was more often than not, we would play and spend time together. I love him like he's my own brother. I know how much he loves you. I've never seen him like this before. He positively lights up whenever your name is mentioned. And when he sees you, well, he's, he's...."

"The same way I am when I see him, in heaven."

Sheridan laughed. "That's one way to put it!"

"Well, thank you. You've made me feel much better. And thank you for telling me the truth about Gwen. Now I know for sure not to believe the story she came in to the boutique with today."

"Oh, no. What did she say now?"

"That Ethan called her to personally invite her to the ball as his date."

"But Ethan told me that he didn't call anyone except you."

"I know. That was my first clue to the fact that she was lying. But then she kept saying how Ethan called her and they talked for hours, and he talked about how excited he was to make partner and how hard he had worked. But Gwen forgets, I've known Ethan a long time, too. He never talks about himself. He won a lot of football games in high school, and won a lot of awards, but never once did he brag. And when you did try to compliment him, he changed the subject. Ethan would never go on about himself for hours."

"It's just Gwen trying to get you to give up on Ethan. She's trying to make you think he's more interested in her than he is you. But we both know that's not true. Have you spoken to Ethan, since that night at the Country Club?"

"No, I haven't. But that's going to change tonight. I'm going over there as soon as he gets off from work to apologize and see if he'll take me back."

"You know what, Theresa? I really don't think you have much to worry about!"

On his way home from work, Ethan began to feel how long his day had been. He was exhausted. He had been in court since 8am, for three different cases. Luckily for him, he won all three. It actually made 12 hour days worth it. Was it really a twelve hour day? He asked himself. Looking at the clock was his answer. 8:12pm. Wow, it seemed like just a few minutes ago he was out of court, and had gone back to the office to finish up some paperwork. It reality, it had been a few hours.

As Ethan pulled in to the parking lot of his apartment complex, he noticed Theresa's car. His heart began to race. And then, sank again. "Oh God, how long has she been waiting for me?" He dashed out of his car and in to the building.

Walking to his door, he noticed Theresa standing in front of it, writing on something.

"Hey", Ethan said so that she could hear him.

Theresa's head turned to see Ethan. Suddenly a huge grin covered her face. "Hey", she said back to him.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, I was in court all day, and then I went back to the office. Before I knew it, it was 8 o'clock!"

"Oh, that's okay. I was just leaving you a note to let you know that I had been here."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Did you want to come inside for a minute?" Ethan asked her, trying to ease the tension between them somewhat.

"Yes, actually, if you don't mind. I mean, if your too tired.....you know what, I'm going to go let you get some rest and I'll call you tomorrow." Theresa didn't want to bother Ethan. He looked so tired, and she was afraid if they started talking it might take a while.

As she turned to walk away, Ethan grabbed her hand. "Please stay", he said. "I've missed you."

She smiled at him. "I've missed you, too."

They walk in to his apartment together, and after he offers her a drink, they sit together on the couch.

"Theresa, I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to apologize again for..."

"No Ethan. It's me who needs to apologize. That night at the Country club, I felt like someone had ripped my heart out when I saw you and Gwen kissing. I thought for sure the only reason that you were dating me was because you trying to get me to sleep with you, and that when you didn't get it from me, you went to Gwen instead. But even though that's what I thought in my head, my heart was telling me that you would never do that. I've known you long enough to know that your not one of those guys."

"I'm so glad."

"Now, I realize that everything you told me about Gwen was true, and then some."

"What do you mean, and then some?"

"Well, first of all, let me tell you congratulations. I'm very proud of you for making partner. You've worked so hard, and you deserve it."

"Thank you, but I'm more interested in what you're going to say about Gwen than your praise."

"Well, it has to do with you making partner. After I got the invitation to the ball delivered to me, I realized I had an appointment with Gwen that day to design her dress.

When I asked her what the dress was for, she told me that you had called her personally to invite her to the ball as your date."

"Theresa that's not true! The only person I called about my being made partner was you!"

"I know. After I received the invitation, I called Sheridan. She told about the conversation the two of you had. So I kind of knew right there Gwen was lying, but I played along to see what else she would say. Then she tried to tell me how, the two of you talked for hours, and how you went on and on about how hard you had worked at being made partner and how proud you were of yourself."

Theresa saw Ethan rolling his eyes.

"I know, right? Ms. Hotchkiss forgets that I have known you all my life and that you are the most selfless person in the world. You'd rather drill a hole in your head than talk about yourself. Well, anyway, that's how I knew she was definitely lying."

"So, did you design her dress?"

"Yes, I did. It didn't bother me to help her after she said all that, because I knew she would never wear it. Not to the ball anyway! Plus, I talked to Sheridan today at lunch. She told me all about Gwen, and how she won't stop until she gets what she wants. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up the night of the ball!"

"I guarantee that won't happen", Ethan said confidently.

"How do you know?"

"If you go back and read your invitation, it clearly states at the bottom that the invitation is required for admittance. No invitation, no ball!"

They laughed together, and when it died down, Ethan reached over to touch Theresa's face. "I have a question for you", he said to her.

"Yes?" she asked him, her eyes closed, delighting at Ethan's touch.

"Did you also read the note I put in with your invitation?"

Theresa opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Yes, I did", she practically whispered.

"So, you'll come with me, to the ball? You'll be my escort?" he asked, as he leaned his head closer to hers.

"Yes, I will", she whispered to him, as their lips were inches apart. Ethan closed the gap between them, and placed his lips lovingly on Theresa's. Soon, the fire had been ignited again, and their tongues were dancing in each other's mouths. But a lack of oxygen made them pull apart.

"Wow", Theresa exclaimed breathlessly.

Ethan laughed. "Here we go again!"

She laughed too. But then, something popped in to her head.

"Ethan? What made you write something about designing myself a dress?"

"I don't know, it just kind of came to me when I was writing the note. Why?"

"You'll think this is very silly, I'm sure. But not long after we started dating, and I saw what a prominent figure you were becoming in this community, I went home and designed myself a dress just for an occasion like the ball. I just figured I would need a dress sooner or later. It was just really odd that I had already designed myself a dress, and you wrote that on my note."

"Its fate", he simply stated, as he looked deep in to her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess your right", she said, as she leaned to him again to recapture his lips against hers. Suddenly, Ethan pulled away. Theresa thought something was wrong, until she realized he had stopped kissing her to yawn.

"Okay, I'm going home", she said, as she got up off of the couch.

"No, please", he said half smiling and half yawning again. "Stay the night with me Theresa. I just want to hold you. I've missed holding you."

Theresa looked back at him as she put her purse over her shoulder. "While that's a tempting offer, you need your sleep right now, more than anything else. Why don't you call me when you get up, and we'll spend the whole day together tomorrow, okay?" She walked across the room to plant a kiss on his forehead. "I love you, call me when you get up." And she walked out the door.


	22. Old Plans Become New Plans

When Ethan woke up the following morning, he felt completely refreshed. The nights sleep had done him good, but not as much good as Theresa coming over so the couple could put their relationship back on track. He didn't want to tell Theresa the night before, but part of the reason he was so tired, was because he hadn't had a decent night's sleep ever since the fiasco at the Country club.

Still lying in bed, he reached over to grab the phone and call Theresa.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good morning, beautiful"

"Hi! How did you sleep? You were exhausted when I left."

"I was, but I feel 100 today. Especially since we're back on the right track."

"Yeah, me too. I even got up to go for a jog this morning!"

"Theresa, I promise, I'll never keep anything from you again."

"And I promise to not be such a doubting Thomas!"

Ethan laughed. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Well, let's see....how about we start with breakfast, and go from there?"

"Sounds good. I need a shower, though."

"Me, too. Meet you at the Book Café in an hour?"

"See you there."

The day was winding down for Ethan and Theresa. After breakfast, they decided to go for a drive in the mountains. Along the way, they came across a flea market, and decided to get out and look around. They found a woman selling wedding ring quilts. Theresa thought it would be a perfect wedding gift for Whitney and Chad, so they asked the lady if it could be personalized. She did it for them right then. By the time the couple got back to Harmony, it was time for dinner, so they went to Theresa's apartment, and she made them something to eat. When they were done, Ethan suggested a card game of Phase 10. And after Theresa got done kicking Ethan's butt, they turned on a movie, "28 Days Later." They were about half an hour in to the movie.

Theresa sat in disgust watching the movie. Not only was it dumb, it was gross, too! She looked up Ethan, just as he looked at her.

"Are you liking this movie?" she asked.

"Not really", he replied. "It's kind of stupid and disgusting."

"Oh thank God, I thought it was just me!" she said, as she grabbed the remote to turn off the TV. "Holy crap! Like that would ever happen!"

"Hey, would be surprised some of the stuff people come up with. I watched a documentary once on the Discovery channel about alien hand."

"What?"

"Yeah, do you believe it? There's this syndrome called alien hand, when one of your hands has a mind of its own. This one guy says he woke up in the middle of the night, and his hand was trying to choke him!"

"No way!" Theresa said.

"Seriously. The bad thing is", Ethan started to itch his right hand, "now I think I have it, because my right hand seems to want to tickle you!"

Ethan assaulted Theresa's belly with his hand, and tickled her all over until she couldn't breath. She thrashed around on the couch and laughed, until she finally caught her breath.

"Oh yea?", she said, pulling her self up, "well, today, on my way home from work, this zombie came up to me and bit me, so now I'm infected, and I'm going to bite you!"

Theresa pushed Ethan down, and starting making little bites all up and down his arm, and made her way to his neck and earlobe. Suddenly Ethan wasn't laughing anymore, but he was getting very warm.

"Hey", Ethan whispered in her ear, "why don't' you try that on my lips instead?"

"With pleasure", Theresa said, and tenderly placed her lips on his own.

As they kissed, Ethan slipped his tongue in Theresa's mouth. It felt like years since they had been this intimate, even though it had only been a short period of time. Ethan had almost forgotten Theresa's wonderful taste.

"Ethan", Theresa breathed in between kisses, "you feel so good. It feels like ages since we were like this."

"I know", he moaned back. He moved his hands from her hair, down her back, and up the sides of her. She kept running her fingers through his hair. Soon, they switched positions, and Ethan was on top of her. He began kissing her neck, and made his way down to her breast, unbuttoning just enough of her blouse get access to them.

"Ethan.....oh god you feel so good. I love you."

"I love you, you're so beautiful", he said, his hand making its way to the button of her jeans.

"Yes, Ethan, please, touch me...."

But as Ethan was about to undo her jeans, her phone rang. It startled both of them so much that they jumped, and then began to laugh. "I'll get it", Theresa said.

"Good idea", Ethan laughed.

"Hello?"

"Hello Theresita."

"Hi Mama. How are you?'

"I'm find mija. I'm just calling to invite you and Ethan to brunch tomorrow after church. Your brothers and their wives are coming too. Can you make it?"

"Of course Mama. But I'll have to call Ethan and ask him."

"Theresa, don't' try and fool me. I know Ethan is there. I saw his car in your parking lot on my way home from the grocery store."

"Mama, no lectures, please. I am grown woman."

"I know Theresa. I'm not saying a word. But please invite Ethan, and I'll see you in church, okay?"

"Okay, Mama. I love you and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too. Tell Ethan I said goodnight."

"Mama says goodnight."

"Goodnight, Pilar!"

"Bye, Mama.", and Theresa hung up the phone.

"Is everything okay?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, she just wants us to come for brunch tomorrow after church."

"Oh yeah, this is Saturday night. Which means tomorrow is Sunday, so....."

"So you staying the night is probably not a good idea. If we show up at church together...."

"They'll know we spent the night together. Okay, I see. Get your stuff and get out, Bennett." Ethan said jokingly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But I have an idea. Do you remember the evening we had planned for last Thursday?"

"Of course I remember."

"Well, I was thinking we'd reschedule."

"Oh yeah", Ethan said pulling her close. "When'd you have in mind?"

"How about, September 4th." She looked at Ethan and smiled devilishly.

"OH, the night of the ball. Whatever made you think of that night?"

"Well, I just thought after the ball, I could show you how proud I am of you."

"Theresa," Ethan said in a serious tone, "all you have to do to show me is be there for me."

Theresa felt tears in her eyes. "I love you, Ethan."

Ethan kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you too, but I have bad news for you."

"What's wrong?"

"The 4th is a Saturday, too."

"Well, I guess we're just going have to get Mama drunk that night, so she won't want to go to church in the morning!"


	23. Payback's a B

As time passed, and the night of the ball got closer and closer, Theresa was becoming gradually nervous. Nervous because she realized what a big night it would be for Ethan, and that all of his clients and co-workers would be at the ball, too. Every night that week, whether they were together or talking on the phone, Ethan always tried to put Theresa's mind at ease. But it wasn't easy. She was also still nervous about Gwen. She was afraid that Gwen would show up to the ball. Ethan assured her, again, that it couldn't happen. He made sure that no copies of the invitation would be accepted, and that the invitation had to be addressed, that way Gwen couldn't get in using someone else's. By Thursday, Theresa was feeling confident about the whole thing. Which was good, because that was the day Gwen was coming to get her dress.

"Hello, Theresa! Thank you for calling me to let me know my dress is done! I'm so excited about the ball!!"

Theresa wondered if she would ever give up on the charade. She also decided, to have a little fun with Gwen.

"Yes, the dress is done, and I don't mind saying, it's gorgeous. I'd love to have you try it on before you go. That way I can take a picture for my portfolio."

"Of course!" Gwen said, as she made her way to the dressing room.

Maria walked over to Theresa. "Does she still think she's going?"

"Oh yea. But if you don't mind, I plan on having a little fun with her", Theresa said, as she grabbed a camera from behind the counter.

"Be my guest", Maria laughed.

"Well, what do you think?" Gwen said, as she came out of the dressing room.

"Oh Gwen, it's wonderful! Now, wait right there, I just need to take a few pictures. So Gwen, I'm assuming that you have your invitation to the ball."

"Invitation?" she said, as her face dropped. Theresa snapped a picture.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I just assumed that you had one, because mine was delivered a while ago."

"Oh, you received an invitation?" Gwen said, trying to keep smiling.

"Oh yes. I have it locked away. You know, you can't get in to the ball without the invitation."

"You can't?" Click!

"No, that's why Ethan made me hide it away, so he was sure I'd have mine."

"Ethan?" Click!!

"Yes, I'm going to be his escort after all. I'm sorry did he not tell you?"

Click, click!

"Well, don't worry, Gwen. I'm sure you can go with someone who's invited, like.......well you could go with.......well, I'm sure they'll have pictures of it in the Sunday paper. You can see it then. But this dress, looks just fabulous on you."

Click!

Finally, the day of the ball arrived. Theresa not only designed her own dress, but she and her mother had made it themselves, too. She didn't trust it to anyone else. Theresa took all day to get ready, she wanted to look absolutely perfect. She had toyed with her hair for days before, making sure she got a perfect style to compliment her dress. She searched for days for the perfect accessories, shoes and matching clutch. She even drove back to the department store she had worked at in the Castleton mall to find the perfect colors of make-up. She made sure she got her jog in, in the morning. And decided at about 1pm to lay down for a nap. She hadn't done that since she was 4!

Ethan called her at 4 o'clock to tell her that a limousine was coming to pick him up, first, and then he'd have the driver go to her apartment. He should be there about 5:45pm.

"That sounds perfect, Ethan. I'm getting ready right now!"

"Right now, it's only four o'clock!"

"Hey, you want me to look beautiful, don't you?"

"Theresa, all you have to do is wake up in the morning and you look beautiful."

"You might be singing a different tune tomorrow morning when you wake and look over and see my hair a mess and smell my morning breath!"

"I think I'll just wake up and thank God that you're next to me."

"Such a charmer. I love you Ethan. I can't wait to see you."

"Me either, see you in a bit, I love you too. Bye."

And Ethan timed things perfectly. Theresa looked out at quarter to six and saw the limousine pulling up. She went to get her clutch and her wrap, and started to make her way to the door. When she opened it, Ethan was there.

"Hey, where you going? Your not backing out on me, are you?" Ethan laughed.

"No, I didn't know you were coming to the door. I thought I'd just run down to the limo."

"Well, Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald. I am your escort, in every sense of the word. So I came to escort you from your door to the car."

"Well, Mr. Bennett, thank you very much. But Ethan, what about my overnight bag?"

"Not to worry. I know you well enough to know that you've had your bag packed and next to the front door since last night. So while you were in the shower, I snuck in and brought it to my place. You're all set."

"While I'm glad that you know me so well, I'm also pretty embarrassed. You might think I'm anal.", Theresa laughed.

"No, I think you're my soul mate, and I love everything about you. Now, let's get in the limo and get ready to have an amazing night!"


	24. Cinderella and Her Prince Charming

The ball was absolutely amazing. The Seascape was decorated like it never had been before. And it was absolutely full of guests. It seemed as though everyone who received an invitation came. But the best part about it for Ethan, was that not only was Theresa there, but all of his family and friends who have supported him. Pilar arrived with Sam and Grace, Ivy and Julian were there. So were Sheridan and Luis, who rode with Miguel and Kay. Whitney and Chad made it, too.

After the dinner was finished, and before the band began to play, Bart and James stood up to make the announcement. They first, thanked everyone for coming, but admitted there was a hidden agenda, and that was to announce that Ethan would be made full partner in the law firm, effective immediately. The entire audience let out a clap of thunderous applause. Then the partners asked Ethan to stand up and say something.

"Thank you, everyone. I'm not really quite sure what to say except thank you to Bart and James. Not every law firm would have the courage to take in a lawyer fresh out of law school to give him a start. And I don't know of one that would take that lawyer and make them a partner. So thank you to them. I also need to thank, my parents, Sam Bennett and Ivy Crane, and their spouses. Without their love and support, I have no idea where I'd be right now. And there's one last person I'd like to thank. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. Theresa and I were friends growing up, and when she came back to town recently, we began dating. I know most women would demand a lot of time from their new boyfriends, but Theresa knew how important my career was to me, so she let me have my time to do my job. Which in turn, gave her time to do her job. I can see that at least half of the ladies here are wearing a dress designed by Theresa! So I thank her, and pray that she and I will attend many more functions like this for years to come. Thank you."

At about 12:30, everyone that Ethan had invited to the ball was gone, so Theresa and Ethan decided to head home, themselves. It had been a long day for Ethan, and Theresa could tell he was tired. She was beginning to feel unsure about her staying at his place, until they got in to the limo to go home.

"Shall I drop the young lady off at her apartment?" the limo driver asked Ethan.

"No, just one stop at my apartment will be fine, thank you."

"Ethan," Theresa started, "are you sure you still want me to stay? I know you're tired. We can pick a different night to....."

Ethan grabbed Theresa's hand and brought it to his lips, looking in her eyes as he did it.

"Theresa, I want you with me tonight. It has been the perfect evening. And do you know what made it so perfect?" he asked her, as he looped his arm to her waist and drew her close to him.

"What, Ethan?" she asked breathlessly. They may have danced all evening together, but every time she got close to Ethan, her heart began to race.

"Having you right there by my side the whole time." He began kissing her neck.

"Really?" She could barely get the words out. His kisses were taking her breath away.

"Really", he whispered back to her. "Making love to you tonight will be the perfect way to end this day."

"Oh, Ethan. I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby."

Before exiting the limo, when they arrived at Ethan's apartment, Ethan tipped the driver and thanked him. Then they made their way in to Ethan's apartment.

They walked in and did the little things you do when you come home at night. Turn on lights, take off your shoes, set down your purse, and put away your keys, all in silence.

After they were done, they just kind of stood there, looking around the apartment.

Theresa broke the silence first. "Is it just me, or are you nervous, too?"

Ethan let out the breath he had been holding. "I am so nervous."

"Why is that, I wonder? I mean, it's not like we don't know each other."

"No, we do know each other. But now we're going to _really _know each other."

"Well, we've got to do something to break the tension", she said.

"I have an idea", he said, as he walked over to her, took her face in his hands, and gently placed a kiss on her lips.

"That works", Theresa replied, as Ethan pulled away from her.

"Follow me", he said seductively, as he gently led her to the bedroom.


	25. For the First Time, Pt 1 NC17

When Theresa entered Ethan's bedroom, she looked around the room. Ethan had placed roses and candles all over the room.

"Oh, Ethan. It's beautiful! Did you do all this for me?"

"No, actually. I did it for us. This night is going to change our lives forever, and I want it to special."

"Such a romantic!" Theresa said, on the verge of tears.

"I love you, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. ", he said, taking Theresa in his arms again.

"And I love you, Ethan Bennett."

Ethan leaned over and brushed his lips softly against Theresa's. Soon they were both enjoying the soft touch of each other's lips on their own. Ethan trailed his lips down to Theresa's neck, as he slid his hands up and down the sides of her body.

"Ethan, you feel so good. When you touch me, my body melts in to you."

"Theresa", was all Ethan could manage to say. He had waited so long to be with Theresa, and now the moment was here. He could finally show her all of the love that had held inside him for years.

As Ethan began to unzip the back of Theresa's dress, she stopped him.

"Wait", she said. "I have something special for you. Will you let me show you?"

"Of course", he said. "What is it?"

"It's in my bag, where is that?"

"I put it in the bathroom for you, is that okay?"

"That's perfect", she said, as she pulled him in for another kiss. As she pulled away, she looked at Ethan and smiled. "That should hold you until I get back", and she walked in to the bathroom.

As Theresa closed the door, Ethan went to work lighting the candles. When he was done, he ran to get the bottle of champagne and the glasses. When he returned, he had just enough time to put on some music, and Theresa emerged from the bathroom.

When Ethan looked up and saw Theresa, he felt all of his breath exit his body. And suddenly his knees were weak.

"Theresa, you take my breath away."

Theresa was wearing the burgundy night gown and robe she had sent away for. She looked at Ethan and smiled.

"You bought this, just for me?"

"I wanted to make sure I looked as beautiful as you make me feel." she replied.

"I love you", he stated simply.

"Oh! You remembered the champagne!" she squealed.

"Of course I did." As he opened the bottle and began to pour the glasses. As he handed one to Theresa, he asked, "What shall we toast to?"

"To us", she said, as she clinked her glass with his own.

"Forever", he added, and they took their drinks.

After setting down their glasses, Theresa moved closer to Ethan and looked in to his eyes. "We have one problem", she said to him.

All at once, a scared and confused look took over Ethan's face. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I am, but you, on the other hand, are not."

"I'm not?" he asked, very confused.

"No, your not. You have way too many clothes on, compared to me." She smiled at him.

"Oh really?" he said playfully. "And how do you suggest we remedy that?"

"I think I can help", she said, as she began to unbutton his tux shirt.

Ethan and Theresa looked each other in the eyes. When his shirt was loose, she ran her fingers over his chest. His skin was so soft, yet his muscles were so toned and hard. She had never felt a man's skin like this before, and it excited her.

The feel of Theresa's fingers next to his skin was almost too much for Ethan to bear. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes to heighten the sensation even more. Before he had a chance to open his eyes, Theresa began to plant small kisses all over his chest, followed by her trailing tongue. She would pause when she came to his nipples and lick them in tiny circles. Ethan began to moan out loud.

"I take it I'm doing this right?" Theresa whispered.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" he replied, trying hard to regain composure.

"I'm sure", she giggled back at him.

"Then I'm glad we're doing this, for the first time, together", he simply stated.

"Me, too", she said, as he again pressed their lips together. They were soft, sweet kisses, the kind of kisses Ethan loved to give her, to show her how much he loved her. They were the kind of kisses Theresa loved receiving from him. It made her feel as though Ethan cherished her.

But soon, the kisses were getting deeper, and harder. Their tongues began to seek each other out, and when found, began a dance of their own. The nervousness the two had felt when they first arrived home, had vanished. They were in their own world, where nothing else mattered but the two of them together.

Theresa pulled her arms from Ethan's body, and shook her own so that the robe she was wearing would fall from her body. Then, she pulled away from Ethan's kiss. Ethan looked at her, fearful that something was wrong. Theresa spoke no words, but took Ethan's hand from his side. Looking deep in to his eyes, Theresa placed his hand softly on her breast. The moment his hand made contact, Theresa felt the room begin to spin. She threw her arms around him and kissed him again in an effort to stable herself. Ethan began to kneed her breast with his hand, and tease her nipple with his fingers. Theresa let out a tiny cry of passion. He repeated the same actions on her other breast, and was soon teasing both of them at the same time. Theresa thought her knees would give way.

Removing one hand from her breasts, Ethan gently place her hand on is belt buckle, and began to unfasten it. Theresa understood what Ethan wanted. She moved his hand away and finished removing the belt for him, and began to unbutton and unzip his pants. As they fell to the ground, Theresa looked down, and saw Ethan's bulge. Her eyes immediately grew wide. Ethan let out a little chuckle. Hesitantly, Theresa cupped him through his boxer shorts. The moan that escaped Ethan's mouth was low and deep.

Theresa was amazed by how Ethan felt through his boxer shorts. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her, so she slowly began to release him from them. Finally, Theresa was seeing Ethan completely naked. She let a small gasp when she got a good look at him. Suddenly, she began to panic. Ethan could tell from the look in her eyes, exactly what was going on in her mind.

"It's all right", he whispered in her ear. "I would never do anything to hurt you." He stepped even closer to kiss her. As their lips met, Ethan bent over and swept Theresa off of her feet, and carried her over to the bed. Her head was spinning as he gently laid her down. His kisses left her lips and trailed down her neck, over to her shoulders, and back again to the top of her chest. As he got to her breast, Ethan looked at Theresa, and asked her with his eyes if he could remove her night gown to expose her. Lightly, she shook her head. Ethan's hands were trembling as he reached up to move the straps of her gown down off of her shoulders.

As the silky material slid down and grazed her breast, Theresa's nipples formed little peaks. The feel of the material sweeping against them made Theresa even more excited. As the gown was falling from her, Ethan gazed down at her. Her bare breast made Ethan's heart skip a beat. She was so beautiful and perfect, her skin was such a gorgeous creamy cocoa color, and her nipples were a dark, rich color of brown. He wasted no time taking one in to his mouth. Instinctively, Theresa reached her hands up to the back of Ethan's head, and ran her fingers through his hair. As Ethan gently licked and suckled on her breast, Theresa urged Ethan's head to take her breast in even deeper. The feeling of pleasure surrounding Theresa was ethereal. This was an experience unlike any other.

After tasting both of Theresa's breast, Ethan wanted to explore more of her body. As he slid the nightgown down off her body, his mouth followed. After reveling in her abdomen and belly, he finally had made his way to her most sensitive area. Ethan had never been this close to a woman's body before. There were so many things he wanted to do and explore. But he was afraid, not only that it would be too much for Theresa, quite truthfully, he was afraid he wouldn't exactly know what to do. So he reached for Theresa, and when his hand found her mound of hair, he realized she was very wet.

"Oh god, Theresa. You're so warm and moist."

"It's for you, Ethan. You make me feel this way."

After kissing his way back up to her lips, he kissed her passionately again, and then looked her in the eyes.

"It's still not too late to stop", he said. "I want to make sure you really want this."

"Oh, Ethan, I do. I've never wanted anything more. Please, make love to me", she said to him.

Ethan reached over to his night stand and opened the drawer to take out a condom. After sitting up to put it on, he nestled himself between Theresa's legs.

"I love you, Theresa. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but I promise it won't last long. Okay?'

"I'm ready, Ethan. Show me how much you love me."


	26. For the First Time, Pt 2 NC17

Ethan arched his back, and placed himself at Theresa's opening. Slowly, he began to place himself inside her. Ethan could feel Theresa wrapping around him. Sliding slowly in to her, Theresa began to moan. As Ethan got deeper inside her, he realized he would have to push his way through her final barrier.

"Okay, this is where it will hurt, but just for a moment."

"I'm ready", she said, as she placed her hands on Ethan's back.

Quickly, Ethan pushed through. Theresa let out a small cry, and her nails dug in to Ethan's back Ethan wanted desperately to start making love to her, but he waited until he felt some response from Theresa. Just moments later, he could feel her, and she began rocking her hips back and forth.

Ethan began his motions. Long, slow, sweet strokes, each one better than the last. And Theresa agreed. "Oh my god, Ethan. It's amazing...." She whispered in his ear, as her lips captured his.

"I love you, I love you so much", he replied when the kiss broke free. Ethan began to pick up speed, and Theresa did, also. Soon, Theresa felt a glorious sensation building higher, higher, higher.....

"Theresa", Ethan said hoarsely, "let me take you there, please....."

"Yes, Ethan, I want you to, .now, Ethan, I'm there..." The more she spoke, the more out of breath with desire she became. As Ethan was peaking, he said to her softly, "Fly with me, baby...."

At that moment, the two fell into their passion, together. It seemed to last an eternity, until they finally began to fall from their high. "I love you", was all Theresa could say to Ethan.

"Wow", Ethan finally murmured, after catching his breath.

Theresa giggled at him. "Hey, that's my line!"

As Theresa began to giggle, it sent more shockwaves through Ethan. He was still inside her, and he could feel it when she laughed. It sent chills up and down his spine. He carefully removed himself, and lay down next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, in the softest, kindest voice Theresa had ever heard.

"I'm wonderful", she replied, as she stroked his arm. "You?"

"Doesn't the wow speak for itself?" More giggling. When it ended, Ethan looked deep in to Theresa's eyes. "I'm glad I waited for you", he said. "And if it's all right with you, I want you to be the only person I'll ever share myself with."

A small tear slipped down Theresa's cheek. "I'm glad I waited for you, too. And I know in my heart, there is no else I am meant to be with." With that said, Theresa rested her head on Ethan's chest, and the couple fell asleep in each other's arms.

As the morning sun streamed in through the bedroom window, Ethan woke to the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Theresa was asleep next to him, her hair cascading upon the pillow, her chest moving rhythmically with her breathing. He laid for almost half and hour and simply watched her sleep. Finally, he decided he needed to drag himself away from his sleeping beauty, if he wanted to make her breakfast in bed.

He quietly moved out of the bed, put on his robe, and went in to the kitchen.

When the breakfast was ready, he walked back in to the bedroom, and set down the tray of food. He decided the best way to wake would be to shower her with kisses. Slowly climbing back on to the bed, he began to gently press his lips all over her face. He heard a small giggle beneath him, and Theresa turned her head and opened her eyes.

"Good morning", she said smiling.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty", he replied. "I have something for you", and he moved away so that she could see the tray of food behind him.

"Oh Ethan! I've always dreamed of breakfast in bed!"

"Then I'm here to make all of your dreams come true."

"Too late", she said back to him, "you already have."


	27. Epilogue

"Ladies and gentleman, at this point in the evening, Whitney would like all of the single ladies to please line up on the dance floor!"

"OOhh! The bouquet toss! I'll be right back!" Theresa sprang from Ethan's lap to be the first one in line for the tossing of the bouquet. She knew that there were still quite a few single ladies at the reception, like Simone and Jessica, and she wanted to make sure she had a heads up to catch the flowers.

"Come on, girls!" Whitney yelled. "I know ya'll are out there! Ready, here we go!"

"1...2....3!" the DJ said in to the microphone.

The flowers went hurdling through the air, and fell perfectly in to Theresa's hands.

As Whitney turned, she saw that Theresa had caught the bouquet. "You go, girl!"

"Allright, now Chad would like to see all the single gentleman on the floor. Come on, I know your out there, and from the looks of the young lady who caught the bouquet, this dance floor should be full!"

"It doesn't matter if there are a thousand men on that floor", Ethan said, standing up to take of his tux jacket, "I'm catching that garter!" And made his way to the middle of the floor.

"Okay, guys. Here it comes!" Chad yelled.

"1....2....3!" the DJ repeated a second time. As Ethan looked up, he realized it was going slightly to the right of him, so he used his height to his advantage, and jumped up to catch the garter.

"That's my boy!" Chad said.

"Now, if we could have the young lady back on the floor that caught the bouquet."

Theresa ran up to Ethan to kiss him. "Nice catch! You should play more basketball!"

"Now, if I could have the young lady sit down in this chair, we'll have the gentleman who caught the garter place it on the young lady's leg.", the DJ explained in to the microphone.

As Theresa sat down, the DJ turned around to go back to his music. But before he could get away, Ethan grabbed the microphone from his hands. "Actually, that won't be necessary", Ethan said in to it.

"Ethan, what are you doing?" Theresa asked him whispering.

"Theresa," he said back to her, again speaking in to the microphone. "I'm doing something, that I've waited my entire life for. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, you have had my heart, ever since I was six years old, and your mother brought you over to my father's house just a few days after you were born. I thought you were the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen. As I watched you growing up, I still thought you were cute, and I liked spending time with you. Even though you made me play Barbies and tried to feed me half cooked meals from your Easy Bake oven. You captured my heart then, and you still have my heart now. And I don't mind, not one bit."

In one swoop, Ethan got down on one knee in front of Theresa, and pulled a little black box out of his breast pocket. Theresa gasped out loud.

"Theresa Marie Lopez-Fitzgerald, I have loved you, my entire life, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, always. Would you please do me the honor, of becoming my wife?"

By the time Ethan got the words out of his mouth, Theresa had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Yes!" she jumped up and said. "Yes I'll marry you, Ethan Samuel Bennett!"

As the couple shared a passionate kiss, the entire wedding reception burst in to tidal wave of thunderous applause. But all Ethan and Theresa could hear, were the whispers they were planting in each other's ears.

"I love you, Ethan."

"I love you, Theresa, always."

THE END


End file.
